


Diamond in the Rough

by ZVArmy



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: F/F, Love, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2019-01-24
Packaged: 2019-07-01 13:56:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 25
Words: 49,184
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15775467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZVArmy/pseuds/ZVArmy
Summary: For the past nine months, Clementine Everett has been training to leave her commentary job behind and become an active wrestler for WWE. Follow her career from day one as she makes her debut on Smackdown, alongside her girlfriend Alexa Bliss.





	1. Chapter 1

_A/N: This story follows on from Bad Reputation, but I will be writing it in such a way that new readers can pick this one up without necessarily needing to read Bad Reputation first._

_We're now in 2019 in this world, so I'll have to make a guess at pay-per-view dates and things like that._

* * *

_Monday Night Raw – 19th August 2019_

Baron Corbin, Raw's General Manager, loomed over the commentary table with a menacing expression on his face. There was also an element of sadistic pleasure in his eyes. He was evidently going to take pleasure in what he was about to do to the unfortunate woman sitting in front of him.

A "No!" chant filled the arena. The fans knew what was coming, and were doing what little they could to try and prevent it. No one actually believed the effort was were going to be successful.

Corbin raised his microphone and put some bass into his voice. "Clementine, you're fired!"

The crowd erupted into boos as the now former commentator's head dropped in resignation.

"Now get out of here, before I have security throw you out," Corbin barked at her. With that, he turned and walked back towards the curtain.

As she slowly pushed her chair back and got up from the commentary table, Clementine actually did feel sad, despite the fact that she very much approved of the angle that had just started with Corbin's words. It would pave her way to transition from being a commentator to an active wrestler – something she had been training incredibly hard for over the past nine months.

But leaving the commentary table for the final time still made her heart feel heavy. She had a lot of fond memories of that job, and of working with Michael Cole and Jonathan Coachman. Initially she had gotten off to a bit of a rocky start with Cole, but he had seemed to resolve whatever problem he'd had with her, and had at times been a good mentor to her as she had looked to refine her skills. For that reason, when she stood up and offered her hand to him, the words she said to him applied both in and out of character.

"It's been a pleasure, Michael. Thank you."

Cole took her hand and said, "All the best, Clem. I'm sorry this happened."

Meanwhile, Jonathan Coachman had stood up out of respect. He offered his hand and said, "Good luck, Clem."

Clem smiled as she shook hands with him. "Thanks, Coach. Don't let whoever replaces me push you around like I always have done."

Coach laughed, genuinely, Clem thought. "Got it," he said with a smile.

After picking up her phone and her tablet from the table, Clementine began her walk across the stage towards the curtain. A lump formed in her throat as she noticed that she was getting a standing ovation. The fans were not idiots. Most of them knew by now that she wasn't leaving WWE. The fact that she had been training down in Florida was a pretty well known fact. Yet even so, they were giving her a standing ovation out of respect for the work that she had put in at the commentary table. It made her tear up as she paused for a moment to look around the arena.

As a mark of her own respect for the audience, the majority of whom had always been kind and supportive of her, giving her generous ovations each week when she came out before Raw, she took off her cap and bowed slightly.

A chant of "Clem!" started to take hold. She knew she had to get to the back quickly before she started crying. It wasn't something she wanted to do on television.

"Thank you," she said humbly, giving the crowd a final wave before turning and heading quickly towards the curtain.

When she walked into Gorilla, she didn't get much of a reaction at all from the production team. More attention was being paid to getting ready for an upcoming tag team match. Hunter Helmsley did call out to her as she passed through. "Okay, Clem?" he enquired.

"Yeah," she assured him, not meeting his eyes in case he saw the tears. She waited until she was out of the other side of Gorilla before wiping them away.

And that was that. She was no longer a commentator. That chapter of her story was finished. But a new one would soon be starting. Her on-screen firing was due to the fact that her character had gotten physically involved with Sasha Banks, one of Raw's most hated heel characters, at the previous night's Summerslam pay-per-view. In just a few minutes, it would be time for step two in the plan that would see her debut as a wrestler, not on NXT, not on Raw, but on Smackdown.

The fact that she wouldn't be going to NXT despite never having had a televised match as yet would be a huge surprise for the fans, as it had been for Clem herself when she had learned about the way she was going to be used. Hunter's idea was to actually make an angle about the fact that she was on the main roster with no experience. That was all well and good, but it came with a lot of pressure.

As she walked back to the women's locker room, Clem found herself thinking that even with the pressure of the angle, she was delighted to be making the move to Smackdown. Alexa Bliss, her girlfriend of almost two years, and Ronda Rousey, her best friend, had both been traded to the blue brand during the WWE draft back in April. Working the opposite schedule to Alexa in particular had been indescribably hard for the past few months, but that unpleasant period was coming to an end now.

When she entered the women's locker room, Clementine found it to be a hive of activity, as usual. A naturally shy person, she kept herself to herself and went over to her locker. She changed next to Bayley, but the huggable one wasn't currently in the room.

Sitting down in front of her locker, Clem looked at her phone, intending to send out the tweet that she needed to put out as part of her angle. However, she saw that on her way from the commentary table to the locker room, she had received a text message and two Whatsapp messages. The text was listed first on her screen.

_DDP: So it begins, kid! Proud of you!_

A big smile immediately appeared on Clementine's face, not least because he insisted on referring to her as kid even though she was twenty five.

DDP had become her mentor when she had started to work with him down at the Performance Center in Orlando. WWE had agreed a deal where he would be down there a couple of days a week, teaching his brand of yoga to trainees who were interesting in it. It had been a particular help to Clem as she built herself up to peak fitness for the first time in her life.

At the yoga classes, DDP had shown a keen interest in her unique situation, and had offered to help with her training if she wished. Clem and Hunter had agreed, and DDP had been assigned as her official mentor. They had hit it off from minute one, and he had eventually even given her his blessing to use his Diamond Cutter as a finishing move, rebranding it The Diamond in the Rough, which was also going to be the nickname for her character.

Clem typed back a quick thank you, then moved on to the Whatsapp messages. The most recent one came up first.

_Ronda Rousey: I'm crying. I love you. Call me if you need to._

"Aww," Clementine said under her breath. Her friendship with Ronda was something that she really treasured. She could well believe that her best friend had shed a tear as she had watched her leave the commentary table for the final time. She decided to call Ronda later, when she got back to her hotel. With that, she moved on to the last of the three messages. There was no surprise who it was from.

_Alexa: I'm so emotional right now. Honey, I love you so much, and I'm so proud of you. Please don't be sad and think of this as any kind of ending, it is a beginning. And we get to be on the same show again! I can't wait to see you tomorrow! It's going to be the best thing ever._

Clementine had come close to tearing up again as she read the message. At no point in her life had she imagined she would fall so deeply in love with someone in the way that she had with Alexa. And the best part of all was that the feeling was undoubtedly mutual. She had not a single doubt in her mind that theirs was a relationship that would stand the test of time. With a happy smile on her face, she typed out a response.

_Thank you, honey. I have only been able to come this far because of your support. It means the absolute world to me. I love you with all my heart. I will Facetime you later, and I will see you tomorrow at Smackdown!_

Messages responded to, there was one more thing that Clem had to do. It was crucial to the progression of her angle. She loaded up her Twitter app and typed out a simple tweet.

_I guess I'm looking for work._


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Before I get into this chapter, I would like to thank my friend Val for the incredible cover image. You can see more of her awesome work on Twitter. Her username is nowthisiswwe. Please check her out and give her a follow!_

* * *

It was all a bit unreal for Clementine. She was backstage prior to a Smackdown episode. That itself was a first, but it was the last thing on her mind. What mattered was the fact that she was only hours away from her television debut as a part of the active roster. It unbelievable!

Moving to a new show changed everything, and it was a lot to take in at once. The backstage crew were different. The referees were different. The makeup ladies were different. The commentators were different. And of course the roster was different. That at least was a good point, overall. Both Ronda Rousey, Clem's best friend, and Alexa Bliss, her girlfriend, were on the blue brand. She had shared emotional hugs with them both already today, and she knew they wouldn't be the last ones, either.

"That's perfect, thank you," Clem said, looking at herself in a mirror. She had just had her makeup done. As per her request, it was very modest. She had never been one for glamming herself up to the extreme. Her hair also remained in the familiar style, short and fixed in two little pig tails at the back. That had actually been Hunter's decision; he had told her that he wanted her look to stay the same as when she had been a commentator on Raw, describing it as cute.

There wouldn't have been much point in doing anything with her hair anyway, for as soon as she got up off the makeup chair, she put her old faithful baseball cap on. It was something she wore at all times when it was socially and practically possible to do so, and had done since she was a child. It was something akin to a security blanket for her, helping her to feel more comfortable and confident about her appearance.

As she was walking out of the makeup area, Clem saw TJ Wilson walking in the opposite direction. He was one of WWE's road agents, and someone she had always found to be a nice guy when they had spoken with each other.

"Hey, Clem," he greeted her with a warm smile.

"TJ, how are you?" Clem asked with a smile of her own.

"Really good," he reported as he stopped in front of her. "Excited for tonight? There's a dumb question if ever I asked one."

Clementine smiled again. "Excited, yeah. And nervous. If you're looking for Naomi or Becky, they're back there," she advised him, meaning the makeup area.

"It's you I was looking for."

"Oh," she said in some surprise. "Uh, what can I do for you?"

TJ gestured for her to walk with him as he set off back in the direction he had come from. "We need to have a quick talk, Clem. I've been assigned to be the agent for your matches for the foreseeable future, and I've got some things to run through with you from Vince and Hunter."

"Oh, okay, great," Clem replied, trying not to let on that she was already worrying about whether those 'things' were good or bad.

"Don't look like that," TJ said, looking at her with both reassurance and humour in his eyes. "It's just a few things about tonight, about your character in general, and about what will be happening in the coming weeks. Nothing to be concerned about."

A short distance down the hallway, TJ pushed the door to an office open and led the way inside. When she followed him into the room, Clem saw that it was set up for all of the road agents to use. There were a couple of other conversations already going on between agents and talent.

"First off, since you're on TV tonight, it's time to give you these," TJ was saying. He had walked over to what was apparently his desk and picked up a stack of three baseball caps.

"Oh!" Clem gasped. She realised she was looking at the first ever piece of Clementine merchandise. The caps were white and purple, similar to her favourite one that she was currently wearing, and had a stylish C on the front.

"I love these," she said in awe as she took the caps and excitedly inspected one of them from all angles. "My own merch! This is wild, TJ!"

TJ laughed, caught up in her excitement and enthusiasm. "What I thought you might do is wear one when you go out to wrestle, and throw it out into the crowd as part of your entrance routine. It would give someone a nice collectable to take home every week."

"I love it," Clem said, eyes wide in delight. "I'd get through some caps though, doing that."

"Don't worry, they'll keep you resupplied with them," he promised her.

They moved on to talking about what was going to be required from her on that night's show. Clem was happy to learn that it wasn't anything overly complicated. She was being eased into it gently, and she appreciated that.

"Okay, that takes care of it as far as tonight is concerned," TJ said. "There's just a couple of other things that Hunter asked me to inform you of. After the show tonight, you're going to do some shooting for graphics and stuff like that for your new character. You've obviously done photo shoots before, so nothing out of the ordinary for you there."

"Nope, that I can definitely do," Clementine said happily.

"Alright, next piece of news, you're going to start being booked for live events from next Wednesday. As I'm sure Alexa has already told you, you'll love them. There's a lot more time for having fun and fan interaction."

"And the faces always win," Clem added with a grin.

TJ laughed. "And the faces always win. There's a tenuous link to the final piece of news I have for you, too. Speaking of fan interaction, you've also been added to the list of names available for meet and greet appearances. Needless to say, you won't get any of the high profile ones as yet, but you can probably expect to see something come your way in the next month or so."

Clem gave a self-depreciating laugh. "Not sure that's the best idea at this point. Who's going to come out to see me?"

"I think you might be surprised," he replied with another smile. "Anyway, that's us all done for now, Clem, unless you have any questions?"

"No, I think I'm good. Thanks, TJ. I'm glad they've put me with you."

"Me too," he said pleasantly. "We're going to do some great work together. I'll catch you later."

Clem left the office, heading back to the women's locker room, where she knew Alexa would be. There was a lot to catch her girlfriend up on after the conversation with TJ. On the way, she took off her cap and replaced it with one of the new ones. She was going to have to start getting used to wearing them, so there was no time like the present to get started.

When Clementine walked back into the locker room and approached Alexa and Ronda, who were engaged in conversation, Alexa immediately noticed the change. "Oh my god! What is that? Is that Clementine merch?" she exclaimed.

"It sure is!" Clem beamed, handing the other two examples of the new caps she was carrying to Alexa and Ronda.

"These are going to sell like hot shit," Ronda said as she looked over the one she had been given.

"I'm not so sure about that," Clem said with a giggle.

"No, she's right," Alexa said. "I've already seen people wearing the same cap as you, trying to cosplay you. These will definitely sell now that you're going to be in the ring every week."

"Speaking of in the ring, what have they got lined up for you tonight?" Ronda asked.

Clementine took a couple of minutes to repeat what TJ had told her about her role on the upcoming show. By the time she finished, Alexa looked overwhelmed with pride. "I know I've said it like a thousand times, honey, but I'm so proud of you," she said, giving Clem a kiss on the lips. "This really is going to be the start of something very special, I feel it. I'm just not sure my heart can take it."

"Thank you, sweetheart," Clem said in a heartfelt manner. "Right now, I just want to come through tonight without making a complete mess of it. That will give me a lot more confidence to move forward with."

Clem missed the knowing look on Ronda's face as Alexa said, "Right. But what do we say?"

"With confidence, you have succeeded before you've started," they said together. It was a mantra that had helped Clem a lot during her nine months of training, and would help her again on her first Smackdown episode.

* * *

_Smackdown Live – 20th August 2019_

A couple of hours after Clementine had posted her tweet about looking for work on Monday night, Paige, Smackdown's General Manager, had quoted it with a tweet of her own, telling Clem to call her. That tweet had gotten quite a reaction from the fans, most of whom knew what was up regarding Clem starting out as a wrestler. People were shocked that it seemed like it might happen on Smackdown, but that reaction was definitely to be expected.

After the show's opening match, Clementine was shown sitting opposite Paige in the GM's office. On the desk in front of Paige was a contract with the Smackdown logo on the top of it. A cheer went up from the crowd who were watching on the big screen in the arena when they saw Clem, who was wearing her brand new cap design for the first time.

"Okay, Clementine, I think we're both happy with those terms," Paige said, making it sound like their discussion had been going on for some time already. "All you have to do is sign on the second page, and it'll be official. You'll be a Smackdown…"

Someone opened the door, cutting Paige off as she turned to see who it was. Shane McMahon, Smackdown's Commissioner, walked into the shot. "Paige, can I speak with you in private for a moment, please?" he asked before looking at Clem. "Nice to see you, Clementine," he added.

"Hi, Shane. Good to see you," she replied as Paige got up to follow her boss out of the office.

The two members of the Smackdown management team were picked up by a different camera when they stepped out into the hallway and Shane closed the door behind them. "What are you doing?" she asked her quietly, his confusion obvious.

"What do you mean what am I doing?" Paige asked in return, also in a hushed tone.

"You're signing Clementine to Smackdown, as a wrestler," he pointed out, as if she might have somehow missed that fact herself. The crowd cheered the news that had just been revealed to them.

"Yes, that's what I'm doing," Paige said.

"Why? I mean, she's never even had a match, Paige. Surely NXT is the place for her to go? Why would we take her on?"

"Because I have a good feeling about her," Paige replied earnestly.

"Oh, you have a good feeling?" Shane said, clearly not impressed by that justification.

"Look, Shane, I need you to go with me on this. Clementine has a lot of talent. I know she has no experience, but everyone has to get experience somewhere. The girl needed someone to take a chance on her, and I'm the one taking the chance. You and I have always worked well together, so can you just let me make this call?"

Shane looked away for a moment, looking like he was very tempted to say no. But then he sighed and relented. "Alright, you can sign her as a Smackdown Live competitor. But if she doesn't prove herself over the next few weeks, you're going to be the one who sits her down and tells her we're letting her go. Understood?"

"Alright," Paige nodded. "But it won't come to that, because she's not going to let us down."

"I'll leave you to it," Shane said before turning and walking out of the shot, shaking his head as he did so.

Paige re-entered the office, where Clementine was patiently sitting waiting for her.

"Everything okay?" Clem asked, sounding a little nervous.

"Everything's great," Paige assured her as she sat back down behind her desk. "Sorry about the interruption. Now, let's get this contract signed, huh?" She turned the document around to face Clem, and offered her a pen.

"Thanks," Clem said. She took the pen, turned the contract over to its second page and signed on the line without a moment of hesitation.

"Excellent," Paige said with a broad smile. "Raw's loss is going to be Smackdown's gain. You'll make your debut on next week's show."

"Can't wait to get started," Clementine said excitedly, bringing the segment to an end.


	3. Chapter 3

If Clementine had ever felt more nervous in her life, she certainly couldn't remember it. Her first ever televised match was third on the Smackdown card for the night, and that meant it was now only moments away. Her opponent was already out there in the ring, having entered during the commercial break which was currently in progress.

Before the break, a graphic had been shown featuring a picture of Clem and informing the audience that her debut was up next. The cheer that had gone up out in the arena had taken her breath away as she stood behind the curtain in Gorilla. The fans really were excited to see her perform!

"My stomach feels like it's tied in a knot," Clementine said under her breath to Alexa. The two women were standing in an embrace, so it was easy for them to keep their words private.

"You're going to ace it, honey," Alexa said in her ear, with such feeling and love that it made Clem tear up. "Now say it with me."

"With confidence, you have succeeded before you've started," they said together. As ever, it helped Clem settle her nerves a little. She hadn't gone through nine months of training to make a mess of her debut match.

"Clem, you're up!" Hunter called from the other side of the room.

"Kill it. I love you," Alexa said quickly as she released the embrace.

"Love you," Clem replied, then got her head in the game. She turned to face the curtain, just in time for her music to hit.

* * *

_Smackdown Live – 27th August 2019_

The music that played for Clementine was a revamped version of the theme she had used as a commentator. It now had more effort put into it, with guitar solos mixed in, along with more detailed background effects. It also had an intro that hadn't been there before, with Clem saying what had been her trademark like on commentary: "It's over with!" Considering this was her first appearance as a wrestler, the ovation she got was quite remarkable.

"Wow! What an ovation for Clementine!" Corey Graves said on commentary. "Renee, I know you've been looking forward to this all week."

Smackdown now only had a two person commentary team, after Hunter Helmsley had managed to make his opinion that it was a better dynamic stick. It was currently being trialled with Corey and Renee on Smackdown, while Raw's team remained as a trio. In the current setup, Renee tended to favour the babyfaces, while Graves leaned towards the heels.

"Very much so," Renee replied as Clem walked out onto the stage, drawing another cheer. "I think Paige was exactly right with what she said last week. Raw's loss is going to be Smackdown's gain. Sure, Clementine is as green as they come, but she has a lot of raw talent, if you'll excuse the pun. What I'm saying is she has bags of potential."

"There's no way anyone is excusing that pun," Graves told her.

Clementine made her way down the entrance ramp. She was wearing white ring gear with purple finishes. It looked quite cheap, as it was intended to. The idea, and it was actually true of course, was that she was a complete rookie. It meant that she needed to look the part. Showing up in top of the line ring gear would not have looked quite right.

The reaction she was getting from the crowd seemed unreal to Clem. She had expected to be cheered, since that had already been the case before, but this was something else. People near the entrance ramp were on their feet, stretching their arms out over the barricade in the hope that she might acknowledge them. While she didn't have time to spend doing that, she did take off her cap and throw it out into the crowd on her right hand side. Someone out there would be able to say they had the cap that Clementine had worn on her way out for her first ever match.

Ring announcer Greg Hamilton introduced her for the first time. "The following is a women's division match. Introducing first, from Atlanta, Georgia, Clementine!"

Taking in every moment and trying to enjoy it is as best she could, Clementine proceeded around the side of the ring.

"Clem! Clem!" a teenage girl was screaming at ringside. Clem noticed that the girl had one of the new Clementine caps on. She must have been quick off the mark to have gotten it delivered already. Clem thought that maybe at a live event that girl would have been someone she could have stopped to take a quick selfie with. But not on live TV.

The entrance routine that Clementine and DDP had come up with together was for her to walk around to the back side of the ring before proceeding up the steps and up onto the middle rope on the outside of the turnbuckles, where she would make the diamond pose with her hands that would be familiar to fans old enough to have seen DDP himself in the ring.

When she made the pose, facing the hard camera, Clem noticed some of the crowd repeating it back to her. With a bit of luck, that might catch on. They were still cheering her too, and filming her with their phones. At least they hadn't switched off or gone for a piss, she thought.

She climbed up to the top turnbuckle, then jumped down into the ring. With that, she locked eyes with her opponent for the first time. Hunter had informed her that for her first series of matches, he was bringing experienced wrestlers who hadn't quite made the grade to get a contract with WWE to work with her and put her over. She hoped it worked out that way.

"And her opponent," Hamilton announced, "From Richmond, Virginia, Abbey Smith!"

Smith was shorter than Clementine's five feet seven, but she was well built and quite fearsome-looking. Both of her arms were covered in tattoos.

The referee for the match was WWE's first main roster female referee, Valentina Rivera. The Mexican native was quickly getting a name for herself as one of the company's best up and coming talents in the world of officiating. She called both competitors out of their corners and ordered the bell to be sounded.

During her training, it had been established that selling was Clementine's biggest strength. She was excellent at making it look like she was taking an ass kicking, which made booking her matches quite easy. She was an underdog character who had to fight back if she wanted a win.

The two women locked up in the centre of the ring. Abbey got the advantage, forcing Clem backwards into a corner of the ring.

Smith took Clementine's arm and whipped her across to the opposite corner. Rather than being hurt by the stiff impact, Clem exploded right out of the corner and blasted her opponent with a clothesline. It was greeted with a nice cheer from the fans.

The match soon settled down into what Clem knew would be the routine for a lot of her matches, with her opponent in control and trying to wear her down. There was nothing revolutionary about it, but that didn't mean it wouldn't work. Indeed, while she found herself in a sleeper hold, some of the fans started chanting her name in encouragement.

In one of her first sessions working with DDP, Clem had received what at the time had felt like scathing criticism. "Your punches are absolutely pathetic. You've got to hit like you mean it."

A strength of Clementine's personality was that she was willing and quick to learn. She had spent session after session just working on making her punches look convincing. Now, people told her she was among the best. When the end of the match approached after a few minutes, it was time to see if a live audience thought she had done a good enough job of it.

Clementine was lifted to her feet by her opponent. Taking Abbey by surprise, she connected with a hell of a right hand that sent Smith stumbling back against the ropes and drew a cheer from the crowd. But Clem wasn't done. She began pummelling Abbey with right hands, before giving her a left that seemed to come out of nowhere, followed by an even more powerful right that took her off her feet.

When Smith got back up, Clementine set up and delivered what was going to be her signature move – a top rope flatliner. The crowd cheered again, then joined in with the count when she made a cover. It seemed that they thought they might just have seen her finisher.

"One!"

"Two!"

Smith got a shoulder up. But Clementine had the upper hand now. She hurried to her feet and stood poised and ready, waiting for her opponent. A hurracanrana was the next move she went for, then, as Abbey bounced right back to her feet after taking the move, Clem poised herself again, this time making the diamond pose with her hands.

A moment later, she jumping into the air to deliver her version of the Diamond Cutter for the first time. It would bring her the first win of her career. She made sure to treasure the moment as she rolled Abbey over and made a cover.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

A warm cheer greeted the victory. As she got up to celebrate, Clementine considered herself happy with how the match had gone. It hadn't been a long match, it certainly hadn't been a masterpiece, but it had done the job of introducing her to the audience as a wrestler. The main thing was that she hadn't choked or botched anything. Now that she has had one match out of the way, she knew she could come back to Smackdown next week feeling a lot more confident.

To celebrate the win, Clementine allowed Valentina Rivera to raise her hand, then stepped through the ropes and climbed onto the middle turnbuckle again, making the diamond shape with her hands once more. As before, some of the fans repeated it back to her.

Just like that, her music stopped and the lights above the ring went dark. The segment was over. It was time for Clem to make her way quickly to the back.

After making her way around the ring and up the side of the entrance ramp, Clem walked through the curtain. Seeing Alexa there waiting for her made her face light up with a smile.

"Great job, honey!" Alexa exclaimed. "I'm so proud of you!"

Clem walked into her girlfriend's arms and held her tight. "Thank you, sweetheart. What an incredible feeling! It went like a dream!"

"You killed it," Alexa said proudly. "All of the girls were impressed."

"Really?" Clem asked, suspecting embellishment.

"Really. We all have to start somewhere, and you started with a very polished performance. Hopefully it won't be long before they give you your first angle."

Clementine laughed good-naturedly. "I think we should take it one thing at a time."


	4. Chapter 4

In just a few moments, Clementine would be competing in her first match at a live event. It was an experience she had been looking forward to. Unlike televised events, there was a little bit more time for face characters to interact with the fans at ringside, and there was more leeway for competitors to have fun during matches.

Out in the small arena, Lana was on her way to the ring. If given the choice, Clem would have wanted a more experienced opponent to work with. However, she could understand the logic behind the booking. Road Dogg wanted someone to put her over, but she was too green at the moment for any of the more established talents to do a job for her.

Baby steps, she thought, wondering how long it might be before she was given her first real angle to work. A month or two maybe, she hoped, once she had proven that she could deliver in the ring in front of real audiences and TV cameras.

The fans who had shown up for tonight's event would have no idea who Lana's opponent was going to be, so Clementine was looking forward to hearing what kind of reaction her music got when it hit. She expected to be cheered to some extent because that had always been the case, but the reaction would still give her an indication as to how excited people were about the fact that she was now a competitor.

Lana's music faded out. Only a couple of seconds later, Clem's theme started with her voice saying, "It's over with." The loud cheer that came as a response made the hairs stand up on her arms and put a smile on her face that she had to quickly get rid of. Going out there grinning like an idiot didn't fit the character she was trying to portray.

She walked through the curtain and onto the small stage, being greeted by another cheer from the couple of thousand people in attendance. She strode towards the ring with a purpose, not directly acknowledging the fans in any way. That would come after the match. For now, she wanted to look like she was focused on her opponent and on the match. She did however throw her cap out into the crowd just before she got to the ring.

Once she had made her way around to the back side of the ring and up to the middle turnbuckle, she gave what had already become her trademark diamond pose with her hands. It made her happy and a little humbled to see so many people repeating the gesture back to her. While looking out at the throng of people, she tried to spot any Clementine caps that might be out there. To her delight, she counted three of them. She had the beginnings of an actual fan base!

Clementine climbed up to the top turnbuckle, then dropped down into the ring. She was ready for the match to start. As with her debut contest the previous night on Smackdown, it wasn't going to be a long match. There was a lot to get through on the card, and she was realistic enough to acknowledge that her match was the least important of them all. For that reason, she and Lana had only been given a few minutes in the ring.

Valentine Rivera was the referee, as she had been the previous night. She spoke to Clem while supposedly making sure was ready for the match to start. "They really like you, Clem," she said in her Mexican accent.

"So far so good," Clementine replied with a smile.

With that, the bell rang and the match got underway. True to form, Clem started aggressively, before Lana got the upper hand and was able to control her for a couple of minutes until they got the call to go home.

Lana had Clem in a headlock at the time when Valentina gave them the signal. Clem fought out of the hold with a few punches to her opponent's side followed by pushing Lana forwards and into the ropes. When Lana came running back towards her, Clem flew through the air to deliver a flying back elbow. It connected with quite an impact, drawing an appreciative cheer for the fans.

Clementine had decided that her character wouldn't overtly play up to the crowd in order to get them behind her. Luckily for her, it apparently wasn't going to be necessary. They were enthusiastically cheering her on as she set up her signature move, the top rope flatliner. When she made a cover after hitting the move, the fans joined in with the count.

"One!"

"Two!"

Lana was able to kick out. Undeterred, Clem quickly got to her feet, standing poised for when her opponent got up. She gave the diamond pose again, signalling that the match was over as far as she was concerned. When Lana made it back to her feet, Clem grabbed her in the position to deliver the Diamond in the Rough, but Lana was able counter, pushing her forward and into the ropes.

Clementine hit the ropes and ran towards Lana, ducked an attempted clothesline, then, as Lana spun around, Clem caught her and hit the Diamond in the Rough, drawing a loud cheer. Everyone knew that the pin was going to be academic.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

As soon as the three went down, some of the fans who had floor seats rushed to ringside in the hope of getting some kind of interaction with Clem. It was well known that babyfaces would interact with fans after matches at live events. Alexa had reminded Clem to do it, pointing out that she could give people memories that would last for life just by taking a few seconds to speak with them or get a selfie. As someone who had never had any ambition to be a star, it was a seriously strange thing for Clem to consider that other people would look at her that way. She felt no different to them at all.

After Valentina Rivera raised her hand, Clem rolled out of the ring on the back side. The fans in front of her were all calling her name, holding out their hands or getting their cameras ready. She knew that she had some time for interaction, but she couldn't be there all that long. It was a question of selecting a few people who would receive special attention.

She began walking around the ring, slapping as many hands as she could without stopping. Then she saw a girl who appeared to be in her early teens looking eagerly in her direction. Not only did she have a Clementine cap on, she also had her dark hair in the two little pig tails that Clem was notorious for wearing. The girl had a phone in her hand, clearly hoping for a selfie. Clem decided she was in luck.

"Clem! Clem! Can I get a picture?" the girl yelled at her excitedly as she approached.

"Sure you can!" Clem said with a big smile. "You look great, honey!" She leaned in and posed for the selfie. As she did so, she saw that in her panic to get ready, the girl must have pressed something on her phone and the camera app had closed down.

"Oh, god. Sorry. Wait," the girl said in a panic.

"Take your time," Clem said calmly.

The girl was able to load the camera back up, and they both appeared on the phone's screen.

"There we go," Clem said, giving a broad smile for the picture.

"Thanks, Clem! I love you so much," the girl said, sounding like her entire life had just been made.

"Sure thing!" Clem said brightly as she moved on. Clem realised that experience would always stay with the girl. It was the first time she had been able to give someone a moment like that, and it meant as much to her as it had to the fan. One thing she was steadfastly determined about was that no matter how well or how badly her career as a wrestler turned out, she would always make time for her fans and appreciate their support. She considered it to be the least she could do.

A couple of minutes later, Clem walked through the curtain to the back, thoroughly satisfied with how things had gone. On her way back to the locker room, she bumped into TJ Wilson, her road agent.

"Good work, Clem," he said as a greeting.

"Thanks," she smiled. "I thought it went well. Did you notice anything I could improve on?" she asked, always keen for feedback that could help her get better.

"The match was solid," he said, nodding his approval. "Your entrance looked a bit rushed, though. Slow it down at bit. Walk with confidence. Look like you're sure of yourself. Look borderline cocky and arrogant. When you get to the point where you're given time on the mic, that's how you're going to talk, so let's get it your walk right to go with it."

"Got it," Clem said seriously, feeling bad that she hadn't looked right out there. "I'll do better tomorrow night."

TJ put a friendly hand on her shoulder. "It was just a bit of advice, Clem. Don't get down about it. You're doing great."

"Thanks," she said, managing to force a smile as she cursed her fragile confidence. She hoped that in time she would feel surer of herself in her new role.

"Keep going the way you're going and we'll soon be talking about your first storyline," TJ said in an upbeat manner, obviously trying to brighten her up.

It worked. Clem smiled genuinely this time. "I'm really looking forward to that."


	5. Chapter 5

It had taken longer than Clementine had hoped for her to move on from what Hunter Helmsley called enhancement matches – basically matches against jobbers. She had been on the main roster for almost two months now, and hadn't had a sniff of an angle, let alone a match on a pay-per-view card.

Her fan base, small though it was right now, had been expressing their frustrations on social media. They were of the opinion that the job matches had served their purpose already, and it was time for bigger and better things for Clementine.

When TJ Wilson had just approached the table where she and Alexa were sitting, Clem had learned that things were indeed going to change at last.

"Good news, Clem," he had announced. "It's time for you to move on to something more substantial. You're going to be on the Smackdown team at Survivor Series, in the five on five match."

They were backstage prior to the first Smackdown episode after the October pay-per-view, the second edition of the Super Show-Down in Melbourne, Australia. Missing out on that trip had been a serious downer for Clementine, albeit somewhat brightened by her girlfriend Alexa being in a Smackdown Women's Championship triple threat match at the event, although it had been a losing effort for her.

Survivor Series was the next pay-per-view on the calendar, and was apparently going to be the event where Clementine made her pay-per-view debut. It would be a big step up, but she actually felt ready for it and confident about it as she took in the news.

"Sit down and join us," Alexa offered TJ, pulling the chair beside her out from under the table.

"Thanks," the road agent said as he took the seat.

"I was hoping to get my first program with someone soon, but I'll definitely take being on the Smackdown team," Clementine said. "It's such a big deal for me."

"And for me," Alexa said lovingly after finishing the last of the cup of coffee she had been working on. "I'm so proud of you, honey."

"Thank you," Clem said tenderly before looking at TJ. "Is Lexi on the team?"

He nodded. "She is. And I have more good news. You just mentioned working your first program. That's going to happen too, as part of you making the team."

"Oh! Even more exciting!" Clem exclaimed. "Tell me more."

* * *

_Smackdown Live – 22nd October 2019_

Paige had opened the episode, coming to the ring and responding to a challenge that had been made on Raw the previous night. She confirmed that Smackdown would take on Raw in a series of matches at the pay-per-view, and said that she would announce her selections for her five man team shortly.

With that, Paige had moved on to talk about the five on five women's contest. She announced that over the course of the next few weeks there would be five qualifying matches, with the winners making the team. She had revealed that the first of those qualifying matches would take place later in the night, and that Sonya Deville, the winning captain from the previous year, would have the honour of competing in the first match. What hadn't been given was the name of Sonya's opponent.

"There can be no doubting Sonya's credentials to be a part of Team Smackdown," Graves said on commentary as Deville entered the ring for the penultimate match of the night. "She was the captain last year, and she got the deciding fall last year too, pinning The Arm Collector Ronda Rousey of all people."

"Not to mention the fact that Sonya is a former Smackdown Women's Champion," Renee added. "But credentials or not, Sonya is going to have to qualify just liked everyone else. We're about to find out who her opponent is."

Sonya's music stopped as she limbered up, looking towards the stage to find out who she was going to have to take on.

"It's over with!"

"Oh, it's Clementine!" Renee exclaimed as the fans cheered loudly and Clem walked out onto the stage. "Listen to this reaction for Clem! She's been very impressive since debuting on Smackdown Live, and what a big opportunity she has in front of her here."

"I'm all for opportunities," Graves said. "But Clementine? On our Survivor Series team? I have a lot of reservations about that prospect."

Apparently Sonya agreed with him. She was shown looking towards her opponent with scorn written all over her face.

"Deville doesn't look impressed with the idea of facing Clementine," Graves said. "I will say this much, she doesn't want to go into the match taking it lightly. Clem can go, there's no doubt about that."

Clementine threw her cap out into the crowd, then made her way around to the back side of the ring, where she stood on the middle turnbuckle and made the diamond pose with her hands. Week by week, it seemed to her that more people repeated the gesture back to her. Her fan base was slowly building.

After she was done posing, Clem half turned so that she could lock eyes with Sonya, who was standing in the middle of the ring. While Clem's music continued to play, they were engaged in a stare down. The production team were able to get shots of both of their faces, including the moment when Sonya looked away and walked over to the opposite corner of the ring, ready to start the match.

Clem climbed up to the top turnbuckle and dropped down into the ring. Her music stopped playing, and referee Valentina Rivera called for the bell.

Fired up for her first big match, Clementine walked quickly forward and attempted to take Sonya on at her own game. The two women both started throwing right hands at each other. It only took a few shots before Sonya got the upper hand, staggering Clem back into the corner with a few shots.

"The referee calling for a break," Renee said. "Clem is in the corner, and…"

She was interrupted by Clem coming charging back out of the corner and hitting Sonya in the face with a right hand that connected with an impact that was audible throughout the arena. The fans cheered in appreciation, but Clem didn't even seem to notice. She carried on hammering away at Sonya, who did her best to cover up against the barrage as she was forced back into the opposite corner.

"Again, Rivera calling for a break," Renee said. "Those were some serious right hands from Clementine. She showed she can stand toe to toe with Deville, and that's no small feat."

"Time for round three," Graves said as Sonya came out of the corner with her hands up, ready to fight.

Clem followed suit, more than willing to engage her adversary any way she wanted. Unfortunately for Clementine, her lack of experience cost her for the first time. Rather than throwing a punch, Sonya kicked Clem in the stomach, then as she doubled over, Sonya kicked her in the face, knocking her down to the mat.

Sonya was able to dominate the match for the next ten minutes, with Clementine only getting in short flurries of offense as she tried to fight back. The crowd were solidly behind her, doing what they could to will her on.

Deville whipped Clementine into the ropes, then ran towards her as she rebounded, wanting to put more force behind the clothesline that she had decided to deliver. Clementine had the same idea, and they ended up both hitting the move.

"Sonya and Clementine had the same idea, and both women are down," Graves said.

"Could this be Clem's way back into the match?" Renee wondered.

Both women slowly got back up, Sonya with her back to Clementine. Looking dazed, Clem was holding her shoulder, in pain from a submission hold that she had previously been in. Meanwhile, Sonya was holding her face, having taken the clothesline right to the mouth. They both staggered towards each other, and Sonya walked right into Clem.

Feeling the contact with her opponent, Sonya quickly spun around to face her. Simultaneously, Clementine had spun around so that her back was to Deville, and in one fluid motion she was able to grab hold of her neck and deliver a Diamond in the Rough that came literally out of nowhere.

"Oh god!" Graves cried as the crowd cheered the devastating move.

"The Diamond in the Rough! Where did that come from?" Renee yelled.

Still looking dazed, Clem shoved Sonya over onto the back and lay across her to make a cover. The fans all joined in with Rivera's count.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"She did it!" Renee shrieked over another loud cheer and Clem's music, which began to play. "Clementine is going to Survivor Series!"

"Clem beat Sonya Deville!" Graves exclaimed. It sounded more like a disbelieving question that a statement.

Greg Hamilton provided the confirmation as Clementine lay there looking up at the referee in shock. She could barely believe herself that she had defeated Sonya.

"Here is your winner, and the first member of the Smackdown team for Survivor Series, Clementine!"

Another cheer filled the arena. Slowly, Clementine got back to her feet. When she was ready, Valentina raised her hand in victory.

"There you have it, Corey," Renee said. "Quite an upset, but Clementine is the first name to be confirmed for Survivor Series. Sonya Deville, who this time last year was the team captain, will not be taking part."

After getting her hand raised, Clem made her way over to her usual corner of the ring and awkwardly climbed up to the middle turnbuckle, selling the ass kicking that she had taken during the match. She raised her hands and gave the diamond pose until the lights above the ring went out and her music stopped, telling her that she show had gone to commercial and it was time to head to the back.

* * *

After the break, Paige was shown in her office, reading something on her phone. She looked up when Sonya Deville walked into the shot, looking livid.

"What are you going to do about this?" Sonya demanded, holding her neck as a result of the Diamond in the Rough.

"What am I going to do about what?" Paige asked, narrowing her eyes.

"What are you going to do about Clementine getting lucky and pinning me," Sonya snapped heatedly. "Last year, I captained the Smackdown team. I won the match. And now you want me to sit on the sidelines just because she…"

"Beat you?" Paige interrupted. "Yes, Sonya, you're going to sit on the sidelines because Clementine beat you. That's exactly why we have qualifying matches. And to be honest with you? I'm happy to have Clem on my team. That girl is going to surprise Team Raw, just like she surprised you."

Sonya glared at Paige and pointed a finger in her face. "You mark my words. You'll come to regret this." With that, she stormed out of the shot, leaving Paige to shake her head.


	6. Chapter 6

"This looks like a nice place," Alexa said. She cast an approving look around the pizza restaurant that she and Clementine were at, out for a double date with their friends Ronda Rousey and Dean Ambrose.

"I can't remember the last time I had a pizza," Clem said as she took her seat. Even in the restaurant, she kept her cap on. As was now always the case, she was wearing one of her official WWE ones.

"That's because you've turned yourself into a fitness freak," Ronda said with a big grin. It was a running joke between them for Ronda to tease Clem about her fitness because one of the reasons she had originally given for being reluctant about the idea of becoming a wrestler was that she feared not having the drive to train hard enough. These days she was Ronda called a CrossFit freak, and possibly one of the fittest women on the roster. It was a contrast that never failed to amuse Ronda.

Clem shrugged bashfully. "Yeah, well, who knew I would end up enjoying training once I got into it?"

"Me, for one," Alexa giggled. "I know what you're like when you put your mind to something."

"Like diving with sharks," Dean put in, thinking back to one of WWE Network's series of Ronda and Clementine shows, in which the popular pairing challenged themselves to face their fears and take on dangerous tasks. One of those shows had been about Clem learning to scuba dive, followed by her diving in a shark cage and coming literally face to face with a great white shark.

"Or demolition derby racing," Ronda said in agreement, referring to the next Ronda and Clementine show, which had recently been announced and would be filmed shortly. The series was back by popular demand, having been put on hold by Hunter Helmsley when Clem had agreed to train as a wrestler. There had been concerns about putting a babyface character and a heel character together on WWE programming. Apparently now, for whatever reason, those concerns no longer seemed to apply.

"Strange that they're bringing the show back. Not that I'm complaining," Clementine said.

A server came over to their table and took drink orders from everyone before Ronda replied to Clem. "I thought so too, when Hunter told me about it. But now, I can understand why. They're going to split Zelina and I up, and I'm turning face."

"What?" Alexa exclaimed in surprise.

"Since when?" Clem demanded.

"It's going to go down in the coming weeks," Ronda said. "I'll start not listening to her or doing what she says I'm going to do, until I eventually snap and fuck her up one night, and leave her lying in the ring."

"That'll go over well," Dean opined.

"That's an understatement," Clem said. "That'll be an amazing face turn. I wish I was on commentary to call it."

"Me too," Ronda smiled. "Your calls made some of my earliest moments special."

"What are they doing with Zelina?" Alexa wondered.

"She's going to start wrestling in her own right," Ronda revealed. "I'm really happy for her. She's very talented in the ring. She actually kind of worked against herself in a way by being such a good manager, first for Almas and then for me. It'll be fun to see what they give her after our alliance breaks up. Presumably I'll be her first feud."

Clementine nodded. "That would be logical, yeah."

The server returned with the drinks – beer for Ronda and Dean and a bottle of wine for Alexa and Clem. She took their pizza orders, then left them to it.

"So," Ronda said after savouring her first sip of beer, "I'm going to be a face again, which is why we get to go demolition derby racing."

"It's dangerous, but I'm more comfortable seeing you do that than shark diving," Alexa said.

"It'll be easier to learn, too," Clem said, referring to the amount of instruction it had taken for her to qualify as a scuba diver as a part of that particular show.

"True, but you love diving," Ronda said. "We both do. We've still never arranged that vacation we kept promising ourselves."

They had often discussed a trip to an exotic location where the weather was hot, the beaches were beautiful and the diving was great. From Dean and Alexa's point of view, only the weather and the beaches mattered as neither of them had any interest in getting in the water.

"We should get on that and arrange something," Dean said thoughtfully. "What about doing something for Christmas? I'm thinking maybe Australia, South Africa, somewhere that has Christmas in summer."

"Ohhhh!" Ronda said excitedly. "That's a very different idea. Christmas in the sun. I love it!"

Clementine loved the idea too. Since she was an only child and both of her parents were dead, she didn't have any concerns about missing spending time with her family if she went out of the country for the holidays. The same didn't apply to Alexa, however. "Lexi?" she asked tentatively. "You'd have to miss out on seeing your family."

Alexa took a slow hit from her wine glass as she thought over the idea. "Would you like to do it?" she asked her girlfriend eventually.

"Yes, I would. But only if you were happy about it," Clem insisted. "If you'd rather stay home and spend time with your family, please say so and we'll do that. I would totally understand."

"No," Alexa said with a shake of her head. "We've all talked about going somewhere together for ages, and I do like the sound of Christmas in the sun. I've also always wanted to go to South Africa, so yeah, let's do it."

"Yes!" Clementine and Ronda both said at the same time, while Dean smiled at the acceptance of his idea.

"I'll start looking into it," he said. "I'll book something up and we can sort the money out when it's done if you like?"

Clem and Alexa looked at each other, seeing agreement on each other's faces. "Works for us," Alexa told Dean. "Just so you know, if you book somewhere that sucks, I'm not paying you."

"Noted," Dean said deadpan, as Ronda laughed.

"Don't worry, Clem," Ronda said. "I'll make sure it's somewhere good for diving."

"Excellent," Clementine said with a broad smile.

Conversation turned to other matters, with the four friends chatting happily and cracking jokes until their pizzas arrived. After the food was delivered and shared out onto plates, there were a couple of minutes of silence as they made enthusiastic starts on their meals.

"You're not the only one who got news from Hunter tonight," Clem said to Ronda.

"Hmmm?" Ronda enquired, her mouth full of pizza.

"I've finally got my first meet and greet appearance coming up in a couple of weeks," Clem said, clearly excited about it. "I've got one of those Cricket Wireless ones."

Alexa smiled, already privy to the news. Meanwhile, Dean nodded his approval and Ronda hurriedly chewed her mouthful of food so that she could respond.

"That's awesome, girl!" Ronda exclaimed once she was able. "You're going to love it! And the fans are going to love meeting you. I know you'll be excited for it, and they'll love seeing that."

"If anyone comes out," Clem said in her usual self-depreciating manner.

Alexa shook her head. "Listen to her," she grinned. "Trust me, Clem, you're in for a surprise."


	7. Chapter 7

On her way to the store where her first ever meet and greet event was going to take place, Clementine took a selfie in the back of the car and posted it to her Instagram with a caption telling the fans that she was on her way.

With little else to pass the time, Clem sat and watched her list of notifications go wild as people started liking and commenting on the picture she had posted.

'I'm already shaking. I'm in line to meet you,' someone wrote.

'Been wanting to meet you forever,' someone else put.

Those comments came along with the usual ones about how cute she looked. It made her smile that cute was the word people chose. She had never considered herself to be attractive, but cute she could possibly admit to. She had that kind of face, and people seemed to like her trademark hairstyle with the two pig tails. Fans were already starting to copy that.

Before long, the driver announced that he was turning onto the street where the Cricket Wireless store was situated. As soon as the car rounded the corner, Clem saw through the windshield a long line of people standing on the sidewalk.

"Oh wow," she gasped in surprise. Despite Alexa's assurances that plenty of people would show up, Clem hadn't really believed it. Now, though, it looked like all of the available wristbands might have been claimed.

The car drove around to the back of the building, and Clem was escorted into the store by an employee. She already knew how the appearance would work. It actually couldn't have been simpler for her. All she had to do was stand in front of the Cricket Wireless/WWE background board, greet each fan as they came forward, and get a picture with them. There wasn't even the need to sign anything, since this was a photo only opportunity.

Walking out into the main part of the store, Clem heard a cheer go up from outside. The fans had seen her through the windows.

Clementine quickly introduced herself to the employees who would be helping with crowd control and with taking pictures for the fans. There was also a security guard lurking nearby, just in case anyone got out of line. As far as Clem knew, that never happened at a WWE signing. Better to be safe than sorry though, she thought.

"All set?" the woman who was going to be taking the pictures asked.

Clem took a drink from the cup of coffee she had brought with her, then set the empty cup aside out of the way. "Yeah. Let's go."

A male employee unlocked the store's front entrance doors, and the fans began to file in. Clem saw a couple of Clementine caps the same as the one she was wearing among the first twenty or so people who were admitted to form a line inside the store.

The first people in line were a group of three African American guys in their twenties. As one of the few black stars on WWE's main roster, Clem was very popular with that demographic.

The three friends all came forward together. One of them was carrying a cardboard sign with a drawing of Clem on it and the words 'Future Women's Champion.' Seeing it put a big smile on her face as she raised her right hand for a high five with the first of the fans. "Guys, I love the sign!" she announced.

"Nothing but truth, Clem," the first fan said as they slapped hands.

"Hopefully sooner rather than later," the second one added. He received a high five.

"You guys are the first fans I've ever got to meet at one of these things," Clem reported, as excited about the fact as they were. She gave the last of the trio a high five.

"That makes us extra special, huh?" he chuckled.

Clem giggled. "Yeah, it definitely does."

The fan with the sign offered it to Clementine and said, "I was hoping you would hold it for the picture?"

"Why not?" Clem said happily. She took the sign and held it at chest height while the three guys gathered around her for the picture.

They all smiled, and the first ever official fan photograph with Clementine was taken.

After thanking Clem, the three fans took their sign and left. Clementine continued working her way through her fans, loving every experience and trying to make them all unique for the fans.

After an hour or so, a girl in her late teens or early twenties came forward. She had a Clementine cap on and tears in her eyes.

"Oh, Clem. I planned out what I wanted to say, but now I can't," the girl said, on the verge of full-on crying.

Rather than a high five, Clem gave the girl a hug. "It's okay, honey," she said gently. "You don't have to be shy. Tell me what you wanted to say."

"The thing is," the girl floundered. Still she couldn't get it out.

Clem knew she wasn't supposed to take a lot of time with each person, but she didn't have the heart to rush the girl she was embracing. "Whatever it is, you can tell me," she said gently.

The girl looked up, biting her lip in a sure sign of nerves. "I'm gay, Clem," she blurted out. "I've never told anyone. Well, I guess I have now," she added with a nervous laugh.

Clementine felt overwhelmed that a fan would choose her of all people to come out to. She knew all too well how hard a thing it was to do. "That was so brave of you," she said earnestly. "It's the hardest thing to come out..."

"I'm going to tell my parents tonight," the girl interrupted. "I promised myself that I would meet you and tell you first, and that would give me the confidence to tell them."

"That means the world to me," Clem said. "I really hope it goes well. I'll be thinking about you. Please tweet me and let me know."

"I will. Thanks so much, Clem. I love you."

"No, thank you," Clem said emphatically. "You've really made my day. Heck, I'll probably never forget this. Shall we get a picture?"

The girl didn't seem to know what to say to that. She just stood next to Clem and put an arm around her for the picture.

"Let me know how it goes, and send me that picture," Clem said as the girl's phone was handed back.

"I will," she promised. "Thanks so much, Clem."

* * *

"I still can't believe that she came out to me," Clementine said to Alexa. They were cosying up to each other on the bed in their hotel room, at the end of the day on which Clem had visited the Cricket Wireless store.

"Oh, honey, that's one of the best parts of the job we do," Alexa said, affectionately stroking her girlfriend's cheek. "What an amazing story. I hope she does let you know what happens, and that it all goes well."

"Me too. I just love the thought that I could give someone the confidence to open up and talk about something so difficult."

Her words triggered a response from Alexa, but Clem couldn't put her finger on what that response was. "Honey?" she asked softly. "What is it?"

"Uh, what you just said about having confidence to talk about things," Alexa said nervously.

Clem's eyes widened a little and she sat up, with Alexa following suit. "You can tell me anything, Lexi, you know that."

"The thing is, you're very shy, Clem. You know I love that about you, buy when it comes to things..."

"Tell me," Clem cut in, taking one of Alexa's hands and squeezing it.

"Alright, well, do you remember that picture of Ronda that leaked last year?"

Clementine remembered it immediately. Dean had taken a picture of Ronda with her wrists tied to the frame of a bed and a T-shirt tied over her mouth to make a gag, in what had clearly been a very intimate situation. Alexa and Clem had made jokes about it to Ronda on many occasions since, and Ronda had good-naturedly helped them out in that regard by revealing that a pair of panties had also been stuffed in her mouth at the time, making the gag even more effective. There was only one reason Alexa could be bringing that up in this situation, and being hesitant about it, Clem realised. "You want us to try that?" she guessed.

"Yeah," Alexa said hopefully. "I want you to do that to me. But only if you're comfortable with it, of course."

"I'm comfortable doing anything with you, honey," Clem assured her. "If you want me to tie you up, I will."

"The only thing is, I don't really want anything stuffed in my mouth. I'd be afraid of choking on it."

"I could tie a shirt over your mouth. Maybe that might work by itself?" Clem wondered.

Alexa seemed a little reluctant again. Even so, she pushed ahead with what she was thinking. "I saw a Target just around the corner when we drove in. We could go buy some duct tape?"

"Very kinky," Clem said, feeling her cheeks warming up. By nature she was a shy person, which made her feel reluctant to try something like this, but she forced the reluctance from her mind as best she could and surprised Alexa by hopping up off the bed. "Okay, let's go," she said eagerly.

"Really?" Alexa asked, not trying to hide her happiness.

"The quicker we go, the sooner I can tape you up," Clem said in a sultry tone. If the prospect turned her girl on, Clem wasn't going to second guess it. And who knew, maybe she would find it a turn on herself once they got into it?

They left the hotel as quick as they could and made the short walk to the Target store. The whole way, Clem felt more excited by the prospect of what they were going to do than she had expected to.

"What if they don't sell duct tape in here?" Clementine asked as they walked into the store.

"Honey, it's Target," Alexa grinned. "They'll definitely have some. It's just a question of where it is."

It took them a couple of minutes to find the right aisle. It was Clem who spotted what they were looking for. "There," she said, pointing at a section at the end of an aisle. Right away, her eyes picked out the roll they had to choose out of the surprisingly large selection of different coloured tapes available. "They have a pink one, Lexi. That's got to be the one. Pink is your colour."

Alexa laughed as they approached the display. "I like pink, but I also like black. There are a couple of different black ones."

"Or we could get grey, which is what you might call traditional," Clementine grinned.

"Traditional," Alexa laughed. "You can pick, honey."

"Pink, then," Clem decided.

"Might be a good choice. I might even have matching pink underwear on," Alexa said, teasing Clem with her tone.

The image that brought to mind started to get Clementine fired up. "Oh my," she breathed as she took one of the pink rolls from the display. "Let's go out of here quick."

Laughing loudly, Alexa followed Clem towards the front of the store. Within minutes, they were back in the hotel room with their new purchase. Clementine worked on removing the packing while Alexa began to undress down to the aforementioned pink underwear.

"There's my goddess," Clem said, her breath almost taken away by the beautiful sight of her girlfriend's body. "You're so beautiful, honey. It always takes my breath away."

"Thank you, baby," Alexa said sweetly. She gave Clem a peck on the lips, then sat down on the bed. "I was thinking you could tape my hands to the bed?" she suggested.

"Like Ronda's picture," Clem recalled. "Okay, I'll do that. Lie down."

Alexa did as she had been asked, resting her head on the pillows. She put her hands between the bars at the top of the bed. "Maybe tape my wrists together like that?" she suggested. "I wouldn't be able to get free of that."

"Okay, if you're sure." Clementine crawled up the bed, roll of pink tape in hand. She stretched out a long length from the roll and stuck it to Alexa's right wrist, proceeding to wrap it around both wrists several times to secure them together. She didn't do it very tightly, feeling tentative about causing Alexa pain. "How's that?" she asked cautiously when she was done.

Alexa smiled up at her. "I like that tape sound. I'm sure that sounds weird, but it turns me on. And it's okay how you tied me. Could have been a bit tighter, but it's fine."

"I'll do it tighter next time then," Clem promised. "Now you want me to tape your mouth?"

"Tape my mouth up, then have your way with me."

Clem's heart was beating hard and fast, such was the amount her girl's words were turning her on. She had to admit that having her in a vulnerable situation was also quite a rush, more so than she had expected. Keeping in mind what Alexa had said about liking the tape sound, Clem made sure to stretch out the next strip from the roll slowly. Once it was about five inches long, she tore it from the roll and lowered it towards her girl's mouth. "Last chance to change your mind, Lexi."

"I'm not going to change my mind. You might need more than one strip to make it effective," Alexa advised. It was clear in her eyes that she was loving every second of the experience already.

"Okay, I'll make sure I get the job done," Clem promised. She pressed the tape down onto Alexa lips and smoothed it down with her fingers to make sure it stuck properly. She followed up with another strip, and then a third. By the time she was done, Alexa's mouth was well and truly covered and sealed up.

"Mmmpph," she moaned, looking up at Clem with a deliberately vulnerable look on her face.

"Are you okay? Can you breathe?"

Alexa nodded her head. "Mmm hmm."

"Good. Then you're all mine," Clem said, licking her bottom lip seductively.


	8. Chapter 8

For the first time, the honour of main eventing the Survivor Series pay-per-view had been given to the women, with their five on five contest taking centre stage. Unsurprisingly, since it happened every year, the battle of the brands was neck and neck heading into the final contest of the night. Whichever brand won the main event would have the bragging rights for the next year.

With the momentous match now only minutes away, it was time for the competitors to leave the locker room and get to Gorilla. The Raw women would be entering the arena first, so they had left before the ladies from Smackdown.

"Okay, I'm ready," Clementine said, to herself as much as anyone else. She put her cap on, the final touch of the attire she would wear for her entrance. Her heart was pounding, and she had to take a deep breath to calm herself down a bit. This was going to be by far the biggest night of her career to date. Not only was she making her first pay-per-view appearance, she was making it in the main event! Finding herself in these situations was a by-product of the angle she had been given, with her character being very green, yet finding herself on the main roster. The truth was, of course, that she was very green. It was a lot to deal with. Luckily, her rock was there beside her as always.

"Yes, you're ready, honey," Alexa assured her, taking her in a quick embrace. "Are you good, or do we need to say our confidence thing?"

"I'm good," Clem said with determination. Week by week since making the main roster, her self-confidence had grown. Tonight's match was a huge deal to say the least, but she wasn't going into it worrying about dropping the ball.

"I love you guys, you know that?" Ronda said as she walked by them on her way to the door. "Serious goals right there."

"No wonder everyone ships Blissentine," Becky Lynch said, walking just behind Ronda.

Charlotte Flair was the final member of the blue team. She gestured for Alexa and Clem to go ahead of her as they parted from their embrace.

"I'm going to need Blissentine to be a team one day," Ronda was saying as she opened the locker room door and led the way out into the hallway.

"It looks really odd to see you walking out without Zel," Charlotte commented.

On the previous week's Smackdown episode, the Rousey-Vega alliance had ended, with Ronda's character finally snapping and giving her former manager the beating of a lifetime, to the delight of the fans. Zelina would be off television for an as yet unspecified number of weeks before making her return, moving on to being an active wrestler in her own right.

Ronda, Becky, Clementine, Alexa and Charlotte made their way towards Gorilla. There could be no doubt about the fact that the blue team was stacked with talent. They were fielding four multi-time women's champions, along with the relatively unknown factor of Clementine.

Walking hand in hand with Clem, Alexa whispered quietly to her. "I'm so proud of you, Clem. It means so much to be able to share a ring with you. I love you."

"I love you too, babe," Clem replied. "I would never have imagined myself in this situation, but I couldn't be happier. It's all because of you, Lexi. I'm so lucky to have you."

Out in the arena, they could hear Bayley's music playing. The captain of the Raw team was already on her way to the ring.

* * *

_WWE Survivor Series - November 24th 2019_

Sasha Banks completed her entrance and stepped through the ropes, the last of the Raw women to come to the ring. She joined Bayley, Ruby Riott, Naomi and Nia Jax, standing ready to face the team from Smackdown.

"Quite an impressive sight, I have to say," Jonathan Coachman said on commentary. He was Raw's representative at the table, with Renee Young there to represent Smackdown and Michael Cole supposedly acting impartially.

"I can't really argue with that," Renee said. "Yet Raw come into the match as underdogs in the eyes of many. Paige has put together a team that's as good as any I've ever seen."

"And here comes the first of those women," Cole said as Alexa Bliss's music began to play. As was often the case, she was greeted with cheers despite being a heel character.

"Alexa Bliss was asked to captain the Smackdown team by Paige," Renee reminded everyone. "And who can argue with her credentials, having won both the Smackdown and Raw Women's Championships multiple times?"

"Personally, I would have gone for Charlotte," Coach said. "Bayley is the Raw Women's Champion and she was asked to captain, yet for some reason Charlotte wasn't afforded the same respect as Smackdown's champion. If I was Charlotte, I would see that as a sign of disrespect from my general manager, and I wouldn't be happy about it."

"Stop trying to sow dissent where there isn't any, Coach," Renee said. "I have no doubts that our team is on the same page. If you remember back to last year, I think you'll find it was Raw who had those kind of problems, with Sasha Banks costing her own brand the women's match by attacking Ronda Rousey."

"That's an encounter I hope we get to see at some point tonight," Cole said.

By that point, Alexa had finished going through her entrance routine. The Raw women had moved to the outside while their opponents entered, so Alexa had the ring to herself for the time being as her music faded out.

"It's over with!"

A generous cheer greeted Clementine's music, and she immediately walked out onto the stage, a determined expression on her face.

"This is possibly the most exciting aspect of this match," Renee said. "Here comes Clementine, who shocked the world a few weeks ago when she defeated Sonya Deville in a qualifying match to make it here tonight. She's never wrestled on a pay-per-view before, yet here she is in the main event at Survivor Series. What a make or break night this could be for Clem."

"You're not going to sit there and tell me you would rather have Clem on your team than Sonya?" Coach queried in disbelief. "I agree with what Shane McMahon has been saying; Paige has made a mistake allowing Clem on the team, and I think it will come back to haunt her."

"One thing I can say is don't take Clementine lightly," Cole said. "I know no one on the Raw team will do so, because they know that's exactly what proved so costly for Sonya Deville."

Following TJ Wilson's advice, Clementine had slowed down her entrance routine. Of late, she approached the ring with an air of confidence in her walk. One thing that hadn't changed was her cap being thrown out into the crowd. Someone went home from every show she worked with a souvenir.

Clem walked around to the back side of the ring and climbed up to the middle turnbuckle, where she made her trademark pose, seeing it repeated back to her by some of the fans. Then it was time for something of a surreal moment. She climbed to the top rope and dropped down into the ring, where Alexa was standing. Their relationship wasn't acknowledged by WWE for obvious reasons, but it was certainly no secret to the fans. The fact that they were in the ring at the same time drew what Clem would have described as a knowing cheer.

Trying to keep character as best she could, Clem started pacing around the ring, keeping her attention on the Raw women at ringside instead of Alexa. She hoped that moment would be her most awkward of the night, and was glad when her music stopped and Charlotte's replaced it.

BREAK

"Riott Kick!" Cole cried.

The vicious kick sent Ronda Rousey crumpling to the canvas. Ruby was on her in a flash and made a cover.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"No!" Renee cried.

"She did it!" Coach yelled at the same time. "Ruby Riott pinned Ronda Rousey! This is incredible!"

"This Smackdown team that everyone was talking about being the best team ever assembled has failed spectacularly," Cole said in an incredulous tone. "Ronda Rousey is gone! She will join Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and Alexa Bliss back in the locker room. Ruby Riott and Nia Jax remain for Raw, while the only one left for team blue is…"

Clementine was shown standing on the apron, a grim expression on her face as she processed the task that was ahead of her. If her team was going to win, she had to beat two opponents.

"Clementine," Renee said, sounding underwhelmed by what her brand had left to put on the field. "Smackdown's hopes rest on the shoulders of Clementine."

"If only that was Sonya Deville, you might have had half a chance," Coach gloated. "But no, Paige knew best. She wanted a rookie on the team."

A chant of "Clem!" began to break out as she slowly got into the ring, where she was faced with Ruby, who had decided not to tag in Nia. The two Raw women shared a look, both thinking the same thing: They had the match won.

Showing no fear, Clem locked up with Ruby. They spent a few minutes going back and forth, until Clementine managed to get the upper hand, scoring a couple of near falls. That was where the numbers worked against her, though. Ruby was able to scramble to her corner and make a tag to Nia, leaving Clem at a distinct disadvantage. Not only was Jax much bigger and stronger than her, she was also totally fresh, whereas Clementine had no one to tag.

Wasting no time at all, Nia rushed into the ring and starting ragging Clem around the place. With selling being one of Clem's strongest attributes, the ass kicking looked particularly convincing.

"Nia signalling that it's over," Coach reported, with Jax standing over the battered form of Clem, who was face down on the mat.

Nia bent down and picked Clementine up, wanting to put an exclamation point of the final fall of the match. She got Clem up onto her shoulders, ready to hit a Samoan Drop.

To everyone's surprise, Clementine was able to wriggle free and slide down Nia's back, landing on her feet. Nia quickly turned around, right into a Diamond in the Rough.

"Oh god!" Coach cried as the crowd came to their feet.

Clementine managed to shovel Nia over onto her back and slump across her to make a cover.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Yes! Come on, Clem!" Renee yelled. "We're even now! Clementine left for Smackdown, with Ruby Riott remaining for Raw!"

"One of these ladies is going to win the whole thing for her brand, the other is going to leave with nothing!" Cole exclaimed. "It could not be more finely poised than this."

"Let's not forget that Ruby Riot is fresh," Coach was eager to point out. "Clementine has been in the ring for some time, and that has to give Ruby the advantage. Come on Ruby, get us across the line!"

Ruby had every intention of doing just that. She came into the ring and started right into Clem, hitting her with move after move. She kept making covers, but time after time Clementine was able to get a shoulder up or kick out. She simply would not stay down. The crowd were solidly behind her, willing her to pull off what would be a truly incredible win.

Intent on killing the dream and getting the win for herself, Ruby went for another Riott Kick.

Clementine was able to avoid the move, and when Ruby got back up, she went for a Diamond in the Rough.

This time, it was Ruby who countered, shoving Clem forward and into the turnbuckles in the corner of the ring. The crowd repeatedly cheered the narrow escapes by both women.

Clementine turned around and stumbled out of the corner, into a Riott Kick.

"There it is!" Coach yelled.

Ruby hurried into a cover and hooked the leg.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

The groan of disappointment Clem heard at the three was music to her ears. The fans had really wanted her to win. Sadly, it hadn't been booked to go that way. Her job now was to put her hands over her face and sell being heartbroken at coming up short for her brand. She knew that Shane and Paige would be shown backstage, with Shane blaming the loss on his general manager for her team selection.

While Ruby celebrated, Clem rolled out of the ring to the floor, her part in the show done. Her angle would continue Tuesday night. For now, she could revel in the fact that she had done well in the main event match on a pay-per-view.


	9. Chapter 9

All things considered, Clementine's first pay-per-view appearance could hardly have gone any better. She had performed her portions of the match pretty much faultlessly, and had received praise for it from Hunter Helmsley after the show had gone off air. The only thing Clem would possibly have changed about the match would have been to have had the chance to work with Elena D'Agostino. Sadly, Elena was currently out of action with an injury, and had missed Survivor Series. Still, Clem figured they would wrestle each other at some point down the road. With a draft taking place every year, they were likely to find themselves on the same brand eventually.

To celebrate the successful performance, Alexa had taken Clementine out for a meal, just the two of them. It had been the perfect end to a perfect night, and they both felt like they were on top of the world by the time they returned to their hotel room.

"This is a night I'll remember for the rest of my life," Clementine said after flopping down onto the bed. "You know when you get that feeling and you just know it will stick in your memory?"

"I sure do," Alexa said. "And it will stick in my memory too. I'll always remember that moment when you were in the ring and I was standing on the apron and you crawled over and tagged me in. It hit me as I watched you work what an amazing talent you already are in the ring. You sell so well, it's remarkable. You make everything people do look so convincing. I wish I was that good."

"Aww, thanks, honey," Clem gushed. "That means so much to me. You always say such lovely things, and it makes me feel like a million bucks."

Standing at the end of the bed, Alexa smiled broadly. "And that makes me feel like a million bucks too. I love you, Clem."

"I love you too, Lexi. Thank you for the meal, and for making tonight so special for me."

Alexa bit her bottom lip in a seductive manner. "I did have one more thing in mind to make tonight special. I guess you could call it a finishing touch."

"I'm liking the sound of this," Clem said, lifting her head from the bed. "What do you have in mind?"

A couple of steps took Alexa over to her travel case. She opened up the main compartment and pulled something out. Clementine couldn't tell what it was until she turned around, brandishing a roll of silver duct tape in her hand.

"Oh, baby," Clem said. She sat up, feeling her heart rate quicken as she thought back a few nights to when Alexa had talked her into tying and gagging her with duct tape before making love to her. It had been a surprisingly enjoyable experience for Clem, who had found it a real turn on to have her girl at her mercy. "You want me to tape you up again?" she asked.

Alexa walked over to Clem and affectionately stroked her cheek, a lustful expression on her face. "No, honey. I want to tape you up."

"Oh," Clem said, surprised. Her natural instinct made her want to shy away from the idea, but she immediately told herself that was silly. This was Alexa, the girl who meant more to her than anyone else ever had. There was nothing to be shy about, and certainly no reason not to trust her.

Gently, Alexa sat down on Clem's lap, still looking into her eyes. "I know you'll feel shy about it, Clem, but I want you to trust me. I'll take good care of you, and I'll make sure it's an experience that blows your mind. Honestly, I wanted to tape you the other night, but I thought it would be best for you to do it to me first."

"Yeah, I'm glad I did it first," Clementine said softly. Her heart was still beating hard, and she did feel cautious about what Alexa wanted to do. But she did trust her, and who knew, maybe it would be an incredible experience again, as it had been the other night with the roles reversed? Alexa had certainly enjoyed it when she had been the one taped up. "Okay, let's do it," Clem decided, sounding more cautious than she might have wanted to. "You might have to be patient with me though, Lexi."

"Of course," Alexa said lovingly. "We'll take it nice a slow, at whatever pace you're comfortable with."

"I'd better go to the bathroom first. I don't want to be taped up needing to pee."

Alexa giggled as she stood up. "Definitely not. You go to the bathroom, and I'll get myself ready."

That final sentence started getting Clementine warmed up for the sexual encounter as she went into the bathroom to relieve herself. She knew that when she emerged, she would find her girlfriend wearing some sexy underwear. The stint in the bathroom only lasted a couple of minutes, but it seemed to drag on forever to Clem. When she had finished up and washed her hands, she glanced at herself in the mirror and took a deep breath for confidence. She had to let herself go and trust Alexa to do whatever she wanted with the duct tape.

Walking back out into the room, Clem set eyes on Alexa sitting at the end of the bed, and the sight took her breath away, as it often did. She was wearing black lace underwear that flaunted her perfect figure to the fullest extent. The roll of duct tape lay waiting on her lap. "God, Lexi, you're damn hot," Clem said. "You drive me wild just looking at you."

"That feeling is definitely mutual, honey," Alexa assured her. "Undress for me, Clem, and do it nice and slow."

Even that request made Clementine feel embarrassed. She silently cursed her self-conscious nature as she removed her hoodie, T-shirt, pants and socks. She was left wearing black underwear that was a lot less sexy than Alexa's. It just wasn't Clem's thing to wear those kind of items. Nonetheless, Alexa loved what she saw. "If anything, you should be the one called the goddess," she said, voice thick with desire.

"No way," Clem replied with a shy grin. "You're the goddess, honey."

Alexa's face took on a mischievous look as Clem removed her underwear. "You're right, I am. And the goddess has something she wants to do. Come on, sit down on the bed."

"Okay." Clem sat down next to her girl, now naked, hating the fact that part of her still felt anxious about what was to come.

It must have shown on her face, for Alexa put a comforting arm around her. "Are you sure you want to do this? It's fine if you're not okay with it, I just thought it would be a bit of fun and it might spice things up for us."

Clementine half turned to face Alexa. "No, I want to do it. It's just, you know how I get. I never have confidence in anything the first time I do it. I hate that about myself. But absolutely I trust you, and I want to do it."

"Alright," Alexa said, giving Clem a little squeeze. With her other hand, she picked up the roll of duct tape. "I was thinking I might just tape your mouth this first time. How does that sound?"

"Yeah, okay," Clem smiled. "And if I enjoy it, you can tie me up next time."

Just hearing Clem say that turned Alexa on to an extent that surprised even her. "I'll hold you to that, honey," she grinned. With that, she found the end of the brand new roll of tape and stretched out a few inches of it.

Clem eyed her while she did it, a cautious smile on her face. "I hope you make this worth it, Lexi."

"That's a promise," Alexa said. "When you gagged me the other day, that tape we bought was only cheap stuff, but it didn't really work all that well. It felt like it might come loose at any moment. I think we need to make it tighter to be effective and properly stop you talking, so I want to wrap it around your head, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, alright," Clem said. "That tape does look better than the pink one we bought."

"Yeah, this was more expensive. It's proper duct tape. It's stickier, and I think a bit wider too. I can't wait for you to tie me up with it at some point," Alexa said excitedly. "But you first."

Alexa stretched out more of the tape, and shifted herself up close to Clem so that she could work more easily. "Keep your mouth closed, baby," she instructed.

Clementine felt Alexa's fingers press the end of the tape down onto her cheek, then it was pulled around her face and across her lips. Initially, Clem was surprised not to feel any discomfort. But Alexa kept going, moving her pigtails out of the way to wrap the tape around the back of her head. When that had been done, the gag had pulled so much tighter. Clem gasped in surprise at the feeling.

"It's okay, honey, relax," Alexa said soothingly.

"Mmm," Clem moaned, taking in rapid, anxious breaths through her nose. She could feel the tape's adhesive literally gluing up her lips, and the tape was pulled so tight it wasn't comfortable at all. But, she told herself, the point was to render her unable to speak. She decided to try and say something as a test.

"Itmph smm tmmmt," she mumbled quietly.

"Tight?" Alexa asked. "I know, baby, but I don't want it to come off. God damn, you look beautiful, Clem. I can see the outline of your mouth under there, it's so well sealed up. Hot as hell."

Clem could tell that Alexa was seriously turned on, and was saying those things partially to fire herself up even more.

"I think once more and we'll be done," Alexa decided. She continued wrapping the tape around, back over Clem's mouth again and around behind her head, where she tore it free from the roll and stuck down the end. The gag was complete, and the tape roll was tossed onto the floor.

Part of Clem's mind was telling her to rip the tape off right away, worried that she wouldn't be able to breathe. But she told herself to calm down and try to relax. It would be easier to breathe if she got a hold of herself. Calm down and enjoy it, she thought. Calm down and let Lexi enjoy it. With that last thought in mind, she put on what she judged to be her most vulnerable expression, looking Alexa in the eye, and sighed into the tape.

"Beautiful, honey," Alexa purred. "Can you breathe? Are you okay?"

"Mmm hmm," Clem confirmed. She was deliberately keeping her hands on the bed, stopping them from fiddling with the tape.

"Lie down, babe. I'll lie next to you. The goddess wants you to get used to wearing a gag for her."

Clementine did as she had been asked. When she rested her head on the pillow, she realised she couldn't even do that comfortably with the tape wrapped so tight around her head. Her breathing had quickened again.

"There we go," Alexa said in that soothing tone. It was her goddess tone, and Clem was well used to hearing it in intimate moments. Lexi lay down beside her on her pillow, looking into her eyes.

Pleasingly, despite her nerves, Clem did feel turned on. How could she not, with the most beautiful girl in the world lying next to her?

"What's it like, being unable to talk?" Alexa asked in that same voice.

"Mmmmm," Clem moaned. Very frustrating, that was the honest answer that she was unable to give. Again, she had the urge to take the tape off. She raised a hand, but Alexa gently took hold of it.

"Don't touch the gag, Clem, please? You're okay. I'm here. You can breathe, you just can't talk."

Clementine allowed Alexa to lower her hand to the bed, conveying her acceptance.

"There we go," Alexa said, still using that voice. She started lovingly playing with a few strands of Clem's short hair that had fallen across her face. "The goddess loves what she sees. Sexy, beautiful Clementine wearing nothing but duct tape. Beautiful Clem," she repeated.

Involuntarily, Clem kept moaning softly into the tape. She was getting used to the discomfort as the first couple of minutes passed. Frustration at not being able to speak or communicate was the worst thing now. Lexi could say whatever she wanted, and all Clem could do was make pathetic muffled noises that didn't even sound like words.

"Sshhh," Alexa encouraged. "Let the goddess blow your mind." With that, she moved a hand down between Clem's legs.


	10. Chapter 10

_Smackdown Live – 26th November 2019_

After the first match of the night, Shane McMahon and Paige were shown standing in the general manager's office backstage. Neither of them looked happy at all; understandably so after the loss the blue brand had taken at Survivor Series two days earlier.

"Shane, you can't blame all of this on Clementine. That's not fair," Paige said.

"I'm not blaming it all on Clementine, I'm also blaming it on you," Shane clarified. "You were the one who hired her, when she had no experience. You were the one who put her in a qualifying match against Sonya Deville, which ended up with Clem on our team. I think Sonya's right, if she had been on the team at Survivor Series we would have won. Clementine let us down."

"No, that's not fair," Paige repeated heatedly. "Clem didn't let us down at all. She was left alone against two people at the end of that match. She beat Nia Jax, and she gave Ruby Riott everything she had. Ronda Rousey got our other three eliminations, so if you want to look at people who let us down, why don't you go and talk to Charlotte Flair? Why don't you go and talk to Becky Lynch? Why don't you go and talk to Alexa Bliss? They are the ones who went into the match as multi-time champions and flopped big time."

That inarguable point seemed to placate Shane somewhat, at least as far as directing anger at Paige and Clementine was concerned. "You know what? Maybe you're right," he said. "I think it's time I went and told those three ladies a few home truths."

"Good," Paige said. "Because I know that loss hurt Clementine enough without you getting in her face about it. She gave it everything she had, like I said, and personally? I'm proud of her, not disappointed in her."

* * *

Later in the show, Clementine's music hit to start off a new segment. The crowd reaction made it plain that the defeat at Survivor Series hadn't dented their support for her. If anything, it seemed to have increased it.

"Quite the reaction, again, for Clementine," Renee Young said on commentary as Clem walked out onto the stage, heading straight for the ring.

"If only we were welcoming her back as the woman who got us across the line at Survivor Series," Corey Graves replied. "But no, we're apparently cheering her for being the one who dropped the ball. She had Ruby Riott, she had the win right there in her fingertips, and she let it slip away."

"You're being impossibly hard on Clem, Corey," Renee said, sounding like she was telling her colleague off. "What more could you possibly have asked from a woman who was making her first pay-per-view appearance this past Sunday night? Clem beat Nia Jax with the Diamond in the Rough, and you're right, she nearly beat Ruby Riott, too."

"Nearly doesn't get the job done though, does it?" Graves countered.

"No," Renee admitted. "And I know that's really been bothered Clementine for the past forty eight hours."

Clem went through her entrance routine, giving the diamond pose on the second turnbuckle as usual. After some discussion with Hunter Helmsley and TJ Wilson earlier in the night, it had been decided that she would remain in that position when cutting promos, so long as she was the only one in the ring. Ring announcer Greg Hamilton climbed up the steps and handed her a microphone as her music faded out.

Before Clem could start speaking, the fans began chanting her name. They weren't all joining in, but it was enough to make the chant sound like it was filling the arena. Clem just stood there and waited it out, since smiling at people wouldn't fit the mood of the promo she was about to give. Inside, though, she was loving hearing the support.

"Sunday night, I failed," she began eventually. The fans voiced their disagreement by booing. "No, it's true," she told them. "I was beaten by Ruby Riott, fair and square, right in the middle. Ruby Riott won Survivor Series for Raw, and I lost it for Smackdown, and that's something I have to own and carry on my shoulders from now on."

More boos came from the crowd. Clem knew they were not booing her, they were booing the fact that she was blaming herself for the team's defeat.

"But what you're not going to see me doing is coming out here and crying about it," Clem went on. "I'm going to keep coming out here night after night, week after week, giving everything I have. I might win, I might lose, but no one will ever be in any doubt that Clementine left everything in the ring."

The fans cheered that promise, but their cheers turned to boos when Sonya Deville's music hit. The former Smackdown Women's Champion walked out into the area, looking at Clem as if she was something unpleasant that she had just stepped in.

"I wondered how long this would take," Graves said. "Sonya Deville said from day one that having Clementine on Team Smackdown would be a mistake, and she was proven right. Sonya was angry about not being on the team, and I'm willing to bet she's even angrier now that Smackdown lost. Last year, she captained the women's team to a victory, earning the decisive fall herself."

"Yes, so we keep hearing," Renee said dryly. "So we've heard every week since Sonya failed to make the team. If she wanted to be there, guess what she should have done? She should have beaten Clem in the qualifier, then she would have been on the team. It's really not a difficult concept to grasp."

Sonya entered the ring, still looking at Clementine in the same derogatory manner. Clem had jumped down off the turnbuckles, and was now standing face to face with Deville.

"Great job, Clem," Sonya said sarcastically after her music stopped playing. "Way to debut in the big time, blowing it in front of the whole world." She continued talking over a chorus of boos, belittling Clem with her tone as well as her words. "Just as I predicted, you failed. You never should have been there to start with, but of course you're Paige's little pet project, so you have to get favourable treatment."

"Favourable treatment," Clem scoffed. "Please. The only favourable treatment I got was when I was given you to face in my qualifying match. You remember, the match where I kicked your ass, dropped you with a Diamond in the Rough and pinned you right in the middle?"

The fans cheered loudly at that, loving seeing Clem stand up for herself against the bully that was Sonya. For her part, Sonya looked like she had just been slapped in the face.

"Yeah, you beat me once," Sonya said icily. "How about you try and do it again?"

Before Clem could react, Sonya smashed her in the face with a right hand, sending her collapsing to the mat. Sonya was on her in a flash, punching her in the head like a woman possessed, with Clem trying desperately to cover up with her hands. Deville certainly couldn't have cared less that the crowd were booing her for the reprehensible beat down she was issuing.

"Come on! Clementine can't even defend herself!" Renee cried angrily. "The sucker punch, then the beat down. Yeah, Sonya, you're real tough."

"Clem ran her mouth, Sonya put her fist in it. That's how things go here on Smackdown, and Clem's going to have to learn that," Graves said unsympathetically.

Once her punches had Clem down and out, Sonya stood up and spread her arms while shouting at the fans. "Why don't you cheer her now, huh?" Unsurprisingly, another volley of boos rained down on the ring.

Clementine was trying to get up. She made it to all fours, but Sonya ran at her and gave her a vicious kick in the ribs, sending her back to the mat, writing in agony. Sonya began stomping away at her, clearly intent on finishing Clem off for good.

Suddenly, Ronda Rousey's music hit, bringing the crowd to their feet in delight. Having recently turned face, the fans were now right behind her, especially if she was going to come out and save Clementine, kicking the hated Sonya Deville's ass in the process.

"Oh, it's Ronda Rousey!" Renee yelled. "Ronda Rousey, who as we all know is a personal friend of Clementine!"

"This isn't the Ronda and Clementine show, this is Smackdown Live!" Graves objected. "Rousey has no business out here!"

"Go tell her that," Renee suggested, knowing full well it wasn't going to happen.

The theme music that Ronda used had often been jokingly referred to as superhero, or maybe supervillain music by WWE's audience. It certainly seemed like superhero music now as Ronda marched to the ring, glaring a hole right through Sonya, who stood her ground, fists up, ready to fight.

Ronda reached the ring and rolled under the ropes. In that moment, Sonya thought better of her decision to stay and fight, and quickly bailed out of the back side of the ring. Naturally, she was booed for her act of cowardice.

"Sonya Deville decided to retreat," Graves said. "I think Ronda Rousey can think herself lucky. She could easily have found herself on the receiving end of some of what Clementine got."

While Sonya made her way away from ringside through the crowd, Ronda went over to check on Clem, who had managed to get to a sitting position, holding her ribs in pain. There was some cheering from the fans, approving of the fact that the popular pairing of Ronda and Clementine were together in the ring.

Clem continued to sell her supposed injuries until the segment went off air, then allowed Ronda to help her from the ring. She had been surprised when the segment had been laid out to her earlier in the night, having not expected to find herself working with Ronda. But then, upon reflection, she had realised that it made sense considering they would soon be filming the next Ronda and Clementine show. What better way to promote it than to have them wrestle together as a tag team on the Smackdown episode? They would be taking on Sonya Deville and a partner whose name hadn't been revealed to Clem as yet, probably because it hadn't yet been decided.

"Thanks for the save," Clem said as a joke once she and Ronda had walked through the curtain at the side of the stage.

Ronda chuckled. "You're welcome. But just so you know, when we're in the demolition derby race, I might very well be the one smashing you up."

Clem looked at her close friend with a smile on her face. "You might. Or I might smash you up. There has to be some walk of life where I can beat your ass."

"There already is," Ronda said with a laugh. "Every time we play golf you make me look like a fool."

"Well, I suppose that's true," Clem said. Her grin turn into an uncontrollable laugh.

They started walking back to the locker room as Ronda said, "It's all good though, I'm just happy to have the Ronda and Clementine show back. I missed making them."

"Me too. It's going to be a lot of fun."


	11. Chapter 11

For the return of the Ronda and Clementine show, the two stars had been driven out to a race track which staged demolition derby races on a semi-regular basis. The car that they were riding in was fitted with cameras and they were wearing microphones, so that their initial arrival and reactions were captured for the show. They had just been driven past the large building that served as the race track's reception area, offices and changing areas. Their destination was the pit area at the side of the race track.

"That's not what I expected," Ronda said slowly, looking out of the window to get her first sight of the track they were going to be competing on. She had seen that it wasn't even a tarmac surface, it was dirt. And, even more concerning from her point of view, it was a figure eight shape.

"Uh, I am seeing that right?" Clementine said hesitantly. "Does the track cross over itself?"

Ronda turned to her and grinned. "It sure does. I guess they mean it when they say destruction."

"I guess they do," Clem said, eyes wide. "I'm glad Lexi didn't come with us. She'd have a cow if she saw that. She was reluctant enough about me coming to begin with."

"Not Dean," Ronda laughed. "He wishes he could be out there with us. He was telling me he's always wanted to do something like this, smashing cars to bits. He said he wishes he was here to do with us."

"Why does that not surprise me from him?" Clem said with a little laugh.

Their car pulled up near to the awaiting film crew. A tall man with short grey hair who looked to be in his mid-fifties was also standing there waiting for them, wearing racing overalls. They had been told ahead of time that they would be met by someone who would give them instruction on driving the special cars used in destruction derby racing.

Ronda and Clem got out of the car. Ronda's side was the closest to the man in the overalls, so she was the first to greet him, offering a handshake and a smile. "Hi, I'm Ronda."

"Sam Monte," the man said in a pleasant manner, accepting the handshake.

"This is Clementine," Ronda said, gesturing to her friend.

"Hi, Clementine. Nice to meet you."

"Good to meet you," Clem said happily. "So, you're the guy who's going to show us how to kill ourselves out there?"

Sam laughed. "Actually, I'm going to show you how not to kill yourselves out there, and in an ideal world, I'll show you how you can win the race tomorrow."

"Some chance of that," Ronda said with a laugh. "Just show me which car is Clem's so I can smash it up, and I'll be happy."

Clem put on her saddest expression. "Isn't she mean to me?"

Sam laughed again at their antics before gesturing off to his right where two cars were parked, covered in black sheets. "WWE had a car customised for each of you for the purposes of your show," he explained. "What do you say we take a look at them?"

"I didn't know they were going to do that," Clem said to Ronda, wondering if her friend had been keeping a secret from her.

"Neither did I," Ronda said excitedly. "Come on, let's go check them out."

"We'd better make the most of them now, before we wreck them," Clementine said as they walked over to the cars. Now that they were at the race track, she was looking forward to the prospect of carnage a lot more than she had expected to.

"Okay," Sam said when they reached the two hidden cars. He took hold of two corners of the black sheet, ready to pull it off to reveal the customisation to the girls. "This one is yours, Clementine. Ready?"

"Yes!" Clem cried.

With a flourish, Sam pulled the sheet off the car. Clementine yelped in delight at what she saw. The car was completely stripped out inside, apart from the two front seats and an elaborate roll cage, designed to reduce the effects of any serious impact on anyone inside the car. What had delighted Clem was the colour scheme – white with purple finishes and a big C on the hood, in the same style as her WWE-designed baseball caps that were starting to become something of a trend with the fans. They were certainly selling in much larger numbers than Clem had imagined would be the case.

"Clem, that's amazing!" Ronda exclaimed, looking at her friend with a beaming smile on her face.

"I take back what I said. I don't want to smash it up," Clem replied.

"Well, like it or not, it's going to get smashed up," Sam assured her with a grin as he moved on to the second car. "Ronda, this one is yours." He pulled the sheet off with another flourish.

"Oh yes," Ronda said, nodding her head in approval.

"I love that," Clem said.

Ronda's car was the same model as Clem's, with the same interior. This one was coloured black, though, and had 'The Arm Collector' painted along the side, with Ronda's WWE logo on the hood. It was noticeable that both cars were fitted with small cameras, so that the show's audience would be able to see the stars behind the wheel.

"I don't know about collecting arms, but I'll definitely be collecting some other cars," Ronda said. "Okay, Sam, when do we get to try them out?"

"First you'll follow me inside, where you'll watch a video to take you through the rules and safety information," Sam said. "Then we'll get you into your gear, and we'll take your cars for a spin. I'll go out with each of you in turn and help you get to grips with driving these bad boys."

"Sounds good to me," Ronda said, turning to look at her friend. "Clem?"

Clementine nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

Half an hour later, Ronda and Clementine were back outside, standing next to the cars once more. They were now wearing matching red racing overalls and gloves, and holding white crash helmets. Sam stood in front of them, also holding a crash helmet. "Okay ladies, who's going out first?" he asked.

Ronda and Clem looked at each other and Clem said, "You go first."

"Looks like it's me," Ronda said to Sam.

A few minutes later, Ronda was driving her car slowly onto the track, with Sam sitting beside her in the passenger seat. Clementine had immediately noticed the fact that the car sounded a lot more powerful than it looked. She imagined that if there had been any long straights on the track, which thankfully there was not, they could have gotten up to some serious speed.

She stood and watched Ronda start doing laps of the short track, slowly at first, but getting faster with each circuit. A cameraman stood nearby to capture Clem's reactions, including shouting encouragement to her friend.

Within a few minutes, Ronda was lapping quite quickly, sliding the back end of her car around the turns, obviously learning the technique under the tuition of Sam. Clem realised that before long, she would be the one in the driver's seat and she would be expected to drive like that. Fast driving wasn't something she was accustomed to at all, but she was willing to give it a go for the sake of the show.

Some time later, Ronda drove her car slowly back into the pit area where Clem and the film crew were standing. The amazing paint job was now covered in mud and dust. Clementine smiled to herself as she thought that it would be in much worse state at this time the next day, as would her own car.

"Clem! That's so much fun!" Ronda exclaimed as she got out of the car. She removed her helmet as she walked over to her friend. "It's a rush just to drive the track, feeling like you're slipping and sliding everywhere. I can't imagine what it will be like with all those other cars on the track with us."

"Chaos," Clem guessed.

Sam was also out of Ronda's car, and had made his way over to the pristine white one. "Alright, Clementine, you're up!" he called.

"Good luck, girl," Ronda said. "Do me a favour, will you? Be slower than me? It would really mean a lot."

"No promises," Clem chuckled. When she started walking away, Ronda gave her an encouraging slap on the back.

"All set, Clementine?" Sam asked when she approached the car, putting her helmet on.

"Call me Clem," she encouraged. "And yeah, I'm good to go. I can't promise to be fast, but…"

"We'll make sure you are," Sam assured her.

They got into the car and Clem fired up the engine. Again, she was struck by how powerful the cars sounded. She remembered from the safety video that she was expected to drive slowly while in the pit area.

"Nice and slow onto the track for me, Clem," Sam said.

"Sure." Clem got the car moving and cruised along the pit area, before turning onto the track. She felt herself take a deep breath when she applied more power. Her heart was starting to pound now, and her nerves made her grasp the wheel much tighter than usual.

"More gas," Sam encouraged her.

That proved to be a theme over the next few laps. No matter how fast Clem thought she was going, Sam kept urging her on to go faster and faster. Before long, the only way she could get round the corners was to slide her way around, barely keeping the car under control on the slippery dirt surface. It took all of her concentration just to avoid spinning out, and that was without a single other car out there with her. The next time she was on track, there would be nineteen other cars there too, making up a total field of twenty.

"Not bad, Clem," Sam said eventually. "Take us back into the pits, nice and slow."

By that point, Clem could feel herself sweating inside her race suit and helmet. As was so often the case, she cursed her nervous nature for getting her so worked up over something that hadn't really been dangerous at all.

She parked the car up near to Ronda's, killed the engine and got out, blowing out a sigh as her adrenaline began to subside.

"Yes, Clem! You were awesome!" Ronda exclaimed, jogging over for a hug.

"Oh man, that was hard work," Clem sighed while they hugged.

"It'll be harder tomorrow when there are twenty... well, eighteen other people crashing into us every chance they get."

"Ain't that the truth," Clem said. She wasn't entirely sure if she was looking forward to the race or dreading it.

* * *

Clementine pulled her car up to the start line. Looking up and to her left, she saw the lights that would signal the start of the race. The three lights would each go red until they were all lit, then they would go out to, signalling the start of the race.

Clem looked to her right. Ronda's car sat next to hers, just a few feet away. As the guests of honour for the race, they had been given the right to start on the front row. Behind them, the other eighteen cars were lining up.

In the black car, Ronda looked over and her eyes met Clem's. She smiled and gave her friend a thumbs up.

Clem waved back. Having no aspirations to win the race, Clem just wanted to try and make the finish. Since Ronda had announced her intention to cause as much destruction as possible, Clem had to believe that finishing would also mean winning the Ronda – Clementine battle.

"Okay, here we go," Clem said for the benefit of the future TV audience. Earlier in the day, she had felt nervous about the race. Now, though, her adrenaline was starting to take over. Her eyes felt like they were out on stalks as she looked at the lights.

The first light went red. Then the second. Then third. Twenty engines roared, ready to be unleashed.

The instant the lights went out, Clem launched her car off the line. To her own surprise, she had made a great start, leaving Ronda behind. She was actually leading as she rounded the first corner!

Thundering across the point in the middle of the figure eight track layout, it occurred to Clem that she would round the next corner, then find herself coming back to this point at a ninety degree angle, with who knew how many cars in the way. What shocked her the most was that she found herself cheering loudly.

"Woo! This is insane!" she cried.

Sliding the car around the corner to the best of her ability, Clem was still in the lead as she came out of it. Ahead was the figure eight intersection, and it was empty! All of the cars had already cleared it. What a relief that was!

Entering the third corner, Clem was starting to wonder where everyone else was. How was she still winning?

She soon got her answer. When she braked and began to slide into the turn, someone literally torpedoed up the inside of her, smashing into her with a hell of an impact and spinning her out. Her car ended up on the grass inside the turn.

"Jesus Christ. Wow," Clem gasped. She had just been involved in her first ever car wreck. It wouldn't be her last, she felt certain.

It only took Clem a matter of moments to get her badly dented car back on the track, but most of the field, including Ronda, had gone past her by then.

"Damn it!" Clem exclaimed in good spirits. Being overly competitive wasn't in her nature. "Let's go get the guy who did that!"

It took six laps for the moment Clem had been dreading – her first encounter with a bunch of cars at the figure eight intersection. Two cars were passing across it as she approached. Reacting in the only way she could, Clem turned to the left to avoid them.

Unfortunately for her, there was a third car coming. It clipped the back end of her car, sending her veering towards the grass. On instinct, Clem steered in the direction of the track to try and counter the effect of the impact and stay on the dirt. That was when things went into slow motion.

Despite her steering, the wheels on the left side of Clem's car went onto the grass. She had full right lock on the steering wheel, which made her front wheel dig into the grass. Before she knew what was happening, her car was in the air, rolling.

"Shit!" Clem yelped. Something for the production crew to bleep out later.

The car slammed down its roof, winding Clem with the impact. The windshield shattered, but thankfully was specially designed not to break and shower the driver with broken glass.

Again, the car rolled through the air, its momentum still carrying it forward at quite a speed. It landed back onto the roof once more, and kept rolling.

For a third time, the car flew through the air, slammed back onto its roof again, then finally came to rest in an upright position, albeit listing strangely to the left.

Winded, dazed, it took Clem a moment to take in what had happened. Her car had rolled three times, and was completely totalled. Her neck hurt, she realised, reaching a hand up to hold it.

The car had come to rest on the grass, right next to the side of the track. The others cars were driving slowly past, an indication of just how bad her wipe out was. The race had been neutralised to allow the trackside marshals to come and check if she was okay, and to help her out of the car.

Clem decided to sit still and try to catch her breath while she waited for help to arrive. At least, thanks to the roll cage, she had sustained no injuries other than the pain in her neck. Whiplash, she assumed. It sure did hurt.

A group of three men in hi-vis coats appeared next to the car and one of them pulled the driver's door. "Are you okay?" he asked loudly.

"Yeah," Clem replied. It had come out a lot quieter than she wanted, so she raised her voice and repeated herself. "Yeah, I'm okay."

The marshal helped her to remove her seat belts and offered a hand to help her out of the car. Doing so hurt her neck. "I think I have a whiplash," she told the guy who was helping her. She noticed that she was being applauded by the small crowd who had shown up to watch the race, so she gave them a vague wave to signal that she was okay.

"We've got a medical team who will check you out," she was assured. "Stick close to me, please. We need to guide you across the track."

Clem nodded her acknowledgement, again feeling pain in her neck. Since she had crashed on the inside of the figure eight, she would have to run across the track when there was a gap in the cars so that she could climb over one of the barriers on the outside, where safety awaited. Before attempting that mission, she glanced back at her car. How badly damaged it was took her by surprise. The bodywork was smashed almost beyond recognition, the left front wheel had come clean off the car and was nowhere to be seen, and all of the windows were shattered. If it hadn't been for the roll cage, she would have been in a lot of trouble.

"Christ," she said to herself.

"Look on the bright side," another of the marshals said. "We have an award for the biggest wreck of the night. I'd say you've got that in the bag."


	12. Chapter 12

WWE had booked rooms in a hotel a short distance from the race track for Ronda and Clementine on the night of the demolition derby. From Clementine's point of view it was a good thing, because her neck had continued to get more painful since her impressive and destructive accident. As the track marshal had suggested, she had won an award for the best wreck of the night. That was scant consolation at the moment, though. A couple of painkillers and the promise of sharing a bottle of wine with Ronda were a much more effective remedy.

But first, before Ronda arrived at her room, Clementine had to call Alexa and tell her what had happened. Knowing that her girlfriend would be anxious about her wellbeing and annoyed that she had gone ahead with the dangerous race, it wasn't a conversation that Clem was particularly looking forward to. But on the other hand, it would naturally be nice to hear her girl's voice after what had been a pretty traumatic experience. A few minutes after getting out of the ruined car, Clem had found herself shaking. In truth, she wasn't quite over the experience yet, nearly two hours later.

A second call was also going to have to be made, and Clem wasn't looking forward to that one either. She was going to have to call Hunter Helmsley and pass on the diagnosis that the doctor at the race track had made, confirming Clem's own suspicion: She had whiplash. She imagined that would mean at least a couple of weeks out of the ring, putting the tag team match she was supposed to have with Ronda against Sonya and Becky on the next Smackdown episode in doubt. Clem hoped Hunter wouldn't be mad about that, but ultimately it wasn't like she had chosen to give herself whiplash in a huge car wreck. Besides, it was WWE who had sent her to the race to film a show for them.

Wincing in pain, Clem sat down on the edge of her bed and called Alexa's number. It only took three rings for her girlfriend to answer. There was a hint of anxiety in her voice. Clearly she had been waiting for the call, probably worrying about what might have happened during the race.

"Clem? Are you okay, honey?"

"Yeah, baby, I'm okay," Clem assured her.

"Thank god," Alexa said, her relief perfectly clear over the phone. "How was the race? Did you win?"

"Actually, I didn't finish," Clementine admitted. "I was in a wreck and my car got totalled."

"Clem!" Alexa cried. "I knew this thing would be dangerous. What happened? Are you sure you're okay?"

"I was a little shaken up at the time, and I have a sore neck. They had a doctor there and he diagnosed me with whiplash. It'll probably hurt for a couple of weeks or so."

"Oh, honey, I wish I was there right now. Does it hurt really bad?"

"No, babe. Like I said, I'm okay. It's painful, but I'll survive. I do wish you were here though. That would make it a lot better. Hey, there was one good thing that came out of it," she added in a much brighter tone.

"What's that?" Alexa asked sceptically.

"I won an award for the best wreck of the night. I have a trophy for it and everything." Clem looked over at the silver trophy that was on the night stand next to the bed. It was a smashed up silver car on a pedestal.

"It must have been some wreck. What happened?"

"The track was a figure eight shape, so it crossed over itself, obviously to encourage crashes since it was a demolition derby. I went across there and someone clipped the back of my car, sending me heading for the grass. I tried to turn and stay on the track, but I must have gone onto the grass and I guess the wheel dug in. The next thing I knew, I was rolling through the air. The car rolled three times, Lexi. It was pretty insane. When I got out, I saw that it was completely trashed. The left front wheel had come off, and I don't know where the hell it even was."

"Christ, Clem. I'm so relieved you weren't badly hurt," Alexa gasped. "I really wish you would stop doing these dangerous things."

"Me too, honey. The car had a serious roll cage in it," Clem said, avoiding talking about the possibility of stopping making shows with Ronda. It wasn't something she wanted to commit to. "Luckily someone planned ahead for exactly that kind of situation. So, yeah, I'm a little sore, but I'm okay. Just looking forward to getting back home to you tomorrow."

"Definitely. When you get here, I'll run you a nice hot bath with some oils in it, and when you're done in there, I'll make sure you feel as relaxed as possible," Alexa promised in her soothing goddess voice, the one that always made Clem feel weak at the knees.

"I'll hold you to that, Lexi," she replied, missing her girlfriend more than ever in that moment.

They chatted away for another few minutes before wishing each other a goodnight. Clem ended the call, deciding to immediately call Hunter and get that out of the way. She was glad that he was the one she had to report to as she had a good working relationship with him, and owed a lot to him for his faith and confidence in her during her training down in Orlando at the Performance Center.

The boss's phone rang and rang, and Clem thought that it was going to go to voicemail, but Hunter picked up just in time.

"Hello, Clem," he said cheerfully. "How was the demolition derby? I hope you're not calling me from a hospital bed?"

"No, I'm not," Clem replied with a giggle. "I am calling you to report an injury though, sadly. I was in a pretty big wreck. I rolled my car three times and completely totalled it, and I got whiplash in the process. They had a doctor at the track who examined me."

"Oh no, I'm sorry to hear that," Hunter said with genuine concern in his voice. "Whiplash can be very painful, so take care of yourself for the next few days. You're not booked again until Smackdown on Tuesday, so I'll have the doc check you over then and we'll see how long he recommends keeping you out of the ring."

Clem felt relieved that her welfare seemed to be his only priority. "I was supposed to be tagging with Ronda against Sonya and Becky. I guess that's not going to happen now. I'm sorry, Hunter."

"It's not your fault," he said easily. "I'm sorry you got hurt filming the show for us. We'll figure something out for Tuesday. Probably a segment showing you lying on the floor in the back somewhere, having apparently been attacked by Sonya. That can keep you off TV for a while if we need it to."

"Thanks, Hunter," Clem said warmly.

"Sure thing. You just take care of yourself. How did Ronda get on? Is she still in once piece?"

Clementine smiled. "She's fine. She'll be coming to my room any minute now to share a bottle of wine."

"Sounds good to me. How did she get on in the race?"

"She didn't finish it either. She wrecked the front end of her car and the radiator broke, so her engine overheated and seized up."

"Shame. But it should make good viewing on the show. I'd better go, Clem. I'll see you Tuesday, okay?"

"See you then," Clem said with another smile before ending the call.

As she had predicted, there was a knock on her door just a few minutes later. It had to be Ronda, hopefully bringing the aforementioned bottle of wine with her.

Groaning in pain, Clementine got up off the bed, instinctively touching the right side of her neck. "I'm not looking forward to trying to sleep with this stupid thing," she muttered to herself on her way over to the door. She opened it up, finding Ronda standing there with a smile on her face and a bottle of red wine in her hand.

"Hey, Clem. How's the neck?" Ronda asked, giving her friend a brief and careful hug.

"Sore, Ronda. Hurts pretty much every time I move around. You don't realise how much you use your neck muscles until you hurt them."

Ronda grimaced in sympathy before holding up the bottle of wine. "This will take the edge off it, I'm sure."

"I'm hoping it does. Come in." Clementine stood aside to allow her friend into the room.

"Have you called Alexa and Hunter yet?" Ronda asked on her way over to the couch that was in the corner of the room. There was a low table in front of it which Ronda used to start pouring the wine into their glasses.

"Yeah, I called them both," Clem said as she carefully sat down next to Ronda. "Lexi was worried about me, naturally, and I think a little bit angry that I got into this situation to start with. Safe to say she's not the biggest fan of the Ronda and Clementine show."

"Yeah, I think that is safe to say." Ronda handed Clem a glass of wine.

"Thanks," Clem smiled. She immediately took a hit from the glass and gave a sigh of satisfaction as she savoured the taste.

They spent a while talking about Clementine's two phone calls, finishing their first glasses of wine in the process. While Ronda refilled the glasses, Clem plucked up the courage to bring up something that had been on her mind for a few days.

"So, uh, Ronda. There's something I want to talk to you about, but it's not exactly easy to, well, talk about."

A slight look of concern appeared on Ronda's face. "There's nothing you need to be shy of talking about with me, Clem. We're friends. Nothing you say to me will go any further. What's wrong?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that," Clem said quickly. "Nothing's wrong. It's just something awkward to talk about."

"Well I can't help you if you don't tell me," Ronda said reasonably.

Clementine nodded. "I know. Uh, the thing is, the other night Lexi brought up that picture of you that leaked out. You know, the one where…"

"I know the one you mean," Ronda said with a little sideways grin. "What about it?"

"Lexi wanted to try doing the same thing with me. As I'm sure you can imagine, I was nervous about it, but I let her do it. She didn't tie my hands, but she taped my mouth up. The problem is I struggled to enjoy it. I kept wanting to take the tape off so I could speak, and it was a real distraction from, you know…"

"The sex," Ronda finished for her. She took a sip from her wine glass. "I understand where you're coming from, Clem. The first time Dean tied me up and put a gag in my mouth I was so mad with him, and I didn't find it all that pleasant. But I let him do it again because I knew he enjoyed it, and in time I came to love it too. There's something about being totally at your lover's mercy that's such a turn on, for me at least."

"So your advice is let her do it again and I might enjoy it?" Clem asked shyly.

"My advice is try and let go of your inhibitions. Let her do whatever she wants to you; tie you up, tape your mouth. So long as she doesn't hurt you, which I know Lexi would never do anyway, let her do it. Let yourself submit to her, and enjoy being at her mercy while she pleasures you. It sure works for me and Dean, I can tell you that."

"Noted," Clementine said, feeling her cheeks warming up in embarrassment. "Can we maybe talk about something else now?"

Ronda laughed at her awkwardness. "Sure we can. I love you, Clem, you know that? Please never change?"

Clementine laughed also. "I don't think I could change even if I wanted to."


	13. Chapter 13

After a few weeks of rest to allow her injured neck to heal, Clementine had been given the all clear to compete at the TLC pay-per-view. She wasn't quite at one hundred per-cent, but she'd had no intention of saying that and potentially having to forfeit only her second ever appearance at a big event.

The match in question was going to be the increasingly popular team of Ronda and Clementine taking on Sonya Deville and Becky Lynch. It was a contest that was originally supposed to have happened on Smackdown a few weeks earlier, but creative changes had been necessitated by Clem's injury. She had been written off of TV in the manner that Hunter had initially suggested to her – supposedly the victim of a backstage attack by Sonya.

Clementine and Ronda were standing behind the curtain in Gorilla while Becky Lynch made her way to the ring, with Sonya already out there.

"You good, Clem?" Ronda asked her friend quietly, alluding to Clem's confidence issues.

Clementine smiled as she went through some last minute warm up exercises. She understood the concern and was grateful for it, but she actually felt great. Maybe it was the fact that she had already done a good job at Survivor Series, giving her the self-belief that she could perform on the biggest stages in WWE. "Thanks, Ronda, but I'm good. I'm glad to be back, and I'm excited to get out there."

Out in the arena, Becky's music faded out. Clementine took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. She was next up.

* * *

_WWE TLC – December 15th 2019_

"It's over with!"

The crowd cheered loudly to welcome Clementine back.

"Talk about a must win match," Corey Graves said as the retuning star walked out onto the stage, looking motivated and ready to get revenge on Sonya Deville. "This is definitely one for Clementine."

"I'm not sure how you figure that, Corey?" Renee Young asked him.

"It's obvious how I figure that. Clementine let the entirety of the Smackdown roster down at Survivor Series; she let Ronda Rousey down the other week by not showing up for their tag team match; it's time Clem stopped letting everyone down. She needs to step up, and she needs to win this match. If she doesn't, people really will start questioning Paige's decision to sign her."

"I can't believe you're trying to go down that road again," Renee said dismissively. "I don't know how many times I've had to say this since Survivor Series. Clementine did not let anyone down. She was left two against one and she still came close to winning the match for our brand. And she didn't let Ronda down that night on Smackdown, she was attacked and injured by Sonya Deville, out of jealousy I might add."

"Jealousy?" Graves asked incredulously. "What the heck does Sonya have to be jealous of Clementine about?"

"Okay, maybe jealousy isn't the right word. But Sonya can't handle the fact that Clem pinned her clean, right in the middle of the ring, and went on to Survivor Series."

"I think Sonya will handle it tonight," Graves said as Sonya was shown on the screen, throwing some shadow punches. "Look at her. She's definitely ready to go."

Clementine was also ready to go. She stood on the middle turnbuckle and gave her diamond pose. To her delight and surprise, most of the people she could see repeated the gesture back to her. Absence had indeed made hearts grow fonder, even when the absence had only been for a matter of weeks.

Clementine jumped down into the ring and her music stopped playing. The noise rose in the arena in anticipation of Ronda's arrival.

A tremendous ovation greeted the start of Ronda's theme. Her face turn and the fact that she had allied herself to Clem had catapulted her to being one of the most popular women on Smackdown.

"Listen to this ovation for The Arm Collector!" Renee cried as Ronda marched onto the stage, game face on, ready to try and dismember the two opponents.

"It still doesn't look right seeing Rousey without Zelina Vega by her side," Graves opined.

"No, it looks a lot better," Renee countered. "Zelina had Ronda out here every week doing her nasty little dirty work. Thankfully, Ronda eventually saw the light and rid herself of that evil little..."

"Rousey betrayed Vega, that's what happened," Graves cut in. "Zelina led Ronda to winning the Raw Women's Championship, and to being Smackdown's number one draft pick earlier this year. And the only thing she got in return was a knife in the back and an ass kicking. We've still not seen Vega since Ronda turned on her."

"That's perfectly fine with me," Renee said. By now, Ronda was in the ring, sharing a fist bump with Clementine. "Right now, Ronda's focusing on getting revenge on Sonya for attacking Clem, and on Becky for trying to attack Ronda last week."

"Yeah. That didn't exactly work out for Becky Lynch," Graves recalled.

Before the segment had started, the promo video had ended with a recap of the previous Smackdown episode, on which Becky had ambushed Ronda in the parking garage. Unfortunately for the fiery redhead, Ronda had been able to turn the tables, ending up giving Becky a German suplex on top of a car.

"If anyone's out for revenge, I would say it's Becky."

Sure enough, seeing that Ronda was starting the match for her team, Becky told Sonya to step aside. Once Deville and Clementine were out on the apron, the referee called for the bell.

* * *

Standing on the apron, Clementine waited for the hot tag. Outwardly, she conveyed the fact that she was desperate to get back into the match. Inwardly, she was delighted with how well the show she and the three other women had put on had been received by the fans, who had been into it from the start.

For the last few minutes, Ronda had been isolated in the ring by the heels, who were doing their best to grind her down. Ronda had just managed to fight back, though, and was now crawling towards the corner.

"Tag!" Renee called as the fans went wild. Ronda had managed to reach her corner at last.

Clem rushed into the ring, adrenaline flowing. For the other team, Sonya had just tagged in Becky. Clem hit her with a clothesline, then another when Becky bounced right back up.

On fire, Clem went on to hit a sequence of several moves, concluding with her top rope flatliner signature move.

"Clementine into the cover!" Renee cried.

"One!"

"Two!"

Becky got a shoulder up at the last moment, inducing Clem to pound the mat in frustration. She got to her feet, holding up two fingers to query the count.

The referee confirmed that it had only been two. Clementine's momentary loss of focus cost her. Becky crawled up behind her and rolled her up into a pinning combination.

"One!"

"Two!"

Clementine was able to reverse the situation into a pin of her own.

"One!"

"Two!"

Becky kicked out, separating herself from Clem in the process. As that happened, the fans started crying out in surprise.

The camera changed to show someone running around the corner at the bottom of the entrance ramp, heading for the babyface corner.

"Wait! That's Zelina Vega!" Graves shouted.

"What's she doing out here?" Renee demanded.

Zelina's arrival had gone unnoticed by Ronda, who had just stood back up, out on the apron. Zelina grabbed both of her ankles and pulled them out from under her, sending Ronda falling face first onto the apron.

In the ring, Clementine hit a Diamond in the Rough on Becky, bringing the fan's attention to the action in there. They cheered the finishing move.

Clem turned Becky over and made a cover, and the referee got down to make the count.

"One!"

"Two!"

The referee slid backwards out of the ring before he could count the three. Vega had grabbed him by the leg and pulled him out under the bottom rope.

"Damn it!" Renee objected. "Zelina Vega pulled the referee out of the ring. Clem had the match won right there!"

"Get out of here! What the heck are you doing?" the referee yelled, remonstrating with Vega, who now suddenly had no interest in detaining him.

In the ring, Clem had walked over to the ropes, mouthing at Vega for the interference. As the referee made sure Ronda's ex-manager was leaving, Clementine turned around, right into a vicious kick to the head from Sonya, who quickly bailed out of the ring, disappearing before the referee slid back under the bottom rope. He was just in time to see Becky get the Disarm-Her on Clem.

"Oh, come on!" Renee objected. "The Disarm-Her locked in. This is a disgrace."

Left with no option, Clementine tapped out, yelling in pain as she did so.

"Clementine taps!" Graves yelled. "Becky and Sonya win!"

"Thanks to Zelina Vega," Renee clarified with distaste. "This was completely pathetic. Clementine had Becky beaten, but Vega pulled the referee out of the ring."

Satisfied with their win, Becky and Sonya didn't bother celebrating in the ring. They retreated to the entrance ramp, where they started gloating.

Up on the stage, Zelina looked back down towards the ring with an evil smile on her face.

The penultimate shot of the segment was of Ronda sitting on the floor near the ring steps. Realising what had happened and who had screwed her and her friend over, she had a face like thunder.

"Oh man," Renee said. "Look at Ronda Rousey's face. Vega might have the last laugh tonight, but I'm not sure I'd like to be in her shoes come Tuesday night."

The shot changed to show Clementine. She was lying in the ring, holding her arm in pain.

"Clementine blew it in a big match again," Graves commented.

"Don't even try saying that," Renee said. "Clem had Becky beaten, and you know it."

"No, what I know is Clem tapped out to Becky. She's only ever won one big match, against Sonya Deville. At this point, I'm going to go ahead and call that a fluke."

"Please," Renee scoffed before moving on to wrap up the segment. "Thanks to Zelina Vega, Becky Lynch and Sonya Deville win. Will Ronda get payback against her former manager? And what's next for Clementine?"


	14. Chapter 14

_Smackdown Live – December 17th 2019_

Charly Caruso was shown standing backstage, ready to give an interview.

"Please welcome... Clementine."

The fans cheered as Clem stepped into the shot, wearing her usual baseball cap as well as an annoyed expression.

"Clementine," Charly began. "This past Sunday night at TLC, you appeared to have Becky Lynch beaten, until Zelina Vega showed up. We've already seen Vega flee the building earlier tonight, with Ronda Rousey in hot pursuit. But I'd like to get your reaction to what happened at TLC?"

"My reaction?" Clementine asked. "You just said it yourself, Charly. At TLC, I dropped Becky Lynch with the Diamond in the Rough, and I had her beat, right in the middle of the ring. That's when Vega showed up and stuck her pointy little beak in the match, screwing me over in the process. I'm not concerned about Zelina though, I'm sure Ronda will deal with her and hopefully break her arm." Clem turned to look directly into the camera. "What does concern me is that I've got people like Corey Graves saying I failed again, that I'm not cut out for the main roster, and other such nonsense like that. I beat Sonya Deville to qualify for Survivor Series, I beat Nia Jax at Survivor Series and I had Becky Lynch beat on Sunday night. Frankly, I don't have anything to prove. But I do want to silence my critics. Do you know where Smackdown is next week, Charly?" she asked, turning back to face the interviewer.

"Next week?" Charly asked. "We're in Atlanta, Georgia."

Clementine nodded. "We're in Atlanta, Georgia. My home town. Otherwise known as Clementine country. So, next week, I'm going to go out to the ring and issue an open challenge for someone to face me in a match. And, Charly, I'm going to beat whoever answers the challenge," she finished, sheer determination in her voice.

Looking impressed by what she had heard, Charly watched Clem turn and walk out of the shot.

* * *

Clementine felt more hyped up than ever before. She was about to leave the locker room to go to the ring for her first appearance in her home town of Atlanta. Not only was she appearing and wrestling, she was booked to open the show. If what she had been seeing on social media the past few days was anything to go by, quite the welcome home was awaiting her.

Thankfully, the show was being recorded on the night of Friday 20th instead of going out live on the following Tuesday, which would be Christmas Eve. That decision had worked out very well for Clementine, Alexa, Ronda and Dean in particular, allowing their proposed Christmas vacation to South Africa to go ahead as planned. Good company, good times, good food, plenty to drink, and even some diving in exotic waters. It promised to be the vacation of a lifetime for Clem, who hadn't grown up privileged enough to be able to enjoy that kind of thing.

Before the vacation, though, there was Smackdown to focus on. Clem gave her ring attire a last look over, confirming that everything was as it should be.

"All set, honey?" Alexa asked her, taking her hand and giving it a squeeze.

Clem picked her cap up from the bench in front of her locker and put it on. She smiled at her girlfriend. "I am now. This is going to be something."

Alexa stretched up and gave her a peck on the lips. "Enjoy, Clem."

"Thanks, baby. I will."

"Blissentine forever," Ronda commented quietly from beside them, grinning.

The comment immediately making Clem's cheeks start warming up in embarrassment, and she turned and made for the door before things could get any worse. Behind her, Ronda laughed good-naturedly at her awkwardness.

"She's going to get her own back on you one day," Alexa said with a chuckle.

"Looking forward to seeing her try," was the last thing Clem heard before leaving the locker room. It made her smile.

* * *

_Smackdown Live – December 24th 2019_

The episode began with Renee Young and Corey Graves welcoming the viewers, then announcing a couple of matches for later in the night, with the appropriate graphics displayed on the screen. When that was done, the camera shot panned across the arena as the Smackdown theme faded out. After a second of silence, Clementine's voice came through the speakers, drawing a thunderous ovation.

"It's over with!"

"We're kicking off the show, apparently, with Atlanta's own Clementine," Renee said excitedly.

"Talk about a home town ovation. This is insane," Graves said as Clem walked out into the arena, playing it cool despite the overwhelming reception she was being given.

The reality was that Clem had goosebumps on her arms and it felt like the hairs on the back of her neck were standing on end as she walked down the ramp. Not only was this by far the biggest ovation she had ever gotten, it felt like one of the biggest she had ever experienced in person. The term mind-blowing was used often, but it really did feel appropriate in this particular moment.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Greg Hamilton said, "please welcome, from Atlanta, Georgia…" He paused to wait out another loud cheer before finishing the announcement. "Clementine!"

Savouring every moment, Clem tossed her cap out into the crowd and made her way around to the back side of the ring, where she climbed up to the middle turnbuckle and gave the diamond pose. It seemed like everyone repeated it back to her. It looked and felt incredible.

Hamilton climbed the ring steps and handed a microphone to Clem. When her music stopped playing, it was quickly replaced with a deafening chant of 'Clem!' It definitely sounded like everyone in the building was joining in. How she was keeping a straight face, Clem didn't even know herself.

"What's up, Atlanta?" Clem asked when the chant started to die down. Her question induced another frenzied reaction.

"You guys are fired up tonight!" Clem exclaimed emphatically, drawing yet another roar of approval. "And that's a good thing, because so is Clementine! Last week, I promised to come out here and issue an open challenge to anyone in the women's locker room back there, and I promised to beat whoever answers that challenge, right here in my hometown!"

"This is unreal," Renee said as the 'Clem' chant went up again. "Clementine came to fight tonight, and her people are right behind her."

Sonya Deville's music hit, abruptly bringing the party to an end. The rapturous cheers turned into aggressive boos for the woman who had been trying to tear Clementine down at every opportunity since her shocking loss in the Survivor Series qualifying match.

Clementine had whipped around the face the stage upon hearing the music. Seeing Sonya walking out onto the stage, she climbed up to the top turnbuckle then dropped down into the ring, ready to face her apparent challenger.

"A lot has been made about Clementine pinning Sonya Deville," Graves said. "It looks like she's going to get the chance to do it again, and Sonya's going to get the chance to, in her mind, set the record straight."

On her way to the ring, Sonya began speaking into her microphone, causing the production crew to quickly fade her music. "Clementine, Clementine," she said in a mocking tone. "That's some spin you're out here trying to put on things. Let's talk straight facts. You've won one match since you stopped facing local talents. One. And yes, that was against me. Why don't you just be honest and admit that you got lucky that night? It was a fluke when you beat me, and it's not going to happen again."

Clementine was shown encouraging Deville to get in the ring so that they could get down to fighting.

As she climbed the ring steps, Sonya continued her diatribe. "Tonight, it's time to put the record straight, Clementine. I'm going to give you the beating you deserve, in front of all your inbred little friends, and as you like to say, your so-called career here on Smackdown Live will be over with."

"That remains to be seen," Renee said as Sonya dropped her microphone and stepped through the ropes. "I will say, though, that Clementine really could use a win. In a way, Sonya coming out and answering the open challenge could be perfect for Clem. If she beats Deville again, no one could possibly say it was a fluke the first time."

"And if she doesn't?" Graves asked testily.

No answer came from Renee. The implications of a loss for Clementine were not good.

In the ring, referee Valentina Rivera called for the bell to start the contest.

* * *

The only women's match of the night had been given plenty of time. Sonya and Clementine had been going back in forth for fifteen minutes when they received the cue from Rivera to go home. By that time, Sonya had a bloody nose thanks to punch from Clem that had connected a little too well.

Nosebleed notwithstanding, it looked like Sonya was going to be the one to get the win. Clementine was down, with Sonya waiting for her to get up, primed to deliver her trademark martial arts kick that always seemed to bring her victory if it connected with the side of an opponent's head.

The Atlanta crowd were chanting Clementine's name, willing her not to suffer the fate that seemed to be coming her way.

Slowly, Clementine got to her feet, using the ropes for assistance. She turned around, and Sonya aimed the vicious kick at her head, swinging her leg as hard as she possibly could. Clementine ducked, leaving the kick to flash over her head and causing Sonya to do almost a one-eighty with the force she had put behind it.

Realising her mistake, Deville quickly spun back around, right into Clem's grasp and a Diamond in the Rough.

"There it is!" Renee cried as the crowd erupted. "Clementine into the cover."

Everyone in the arena joined in with Rivera's count, which was a formality.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Clementine wins!" Graves shouted. "It wasn't a fluke, I admit it. Clem beats Sonya Deville for the second time."

Clem slowly got up, breathing heavily. She received her second standing ovation of the night from her hometown fans as Valentina raised her hand in victory.

"What a way to start the night," Renee said excitedly. "And what a win for Clementine. She came into the match needing a win, and she got it."

"Clementine answers her critics, including me," Graves admitted, bringing the segment to a close with a shot of Clem giving her diamond pose on the middle turnbuckle, Sonya lying unconscious in the background.


	15. Chapter 15

"Clem! Wake up, honey! It's Christmas!"

Groaning, Clementine opened her eyes. Bright sunlight filled the bedroom, even through the curtains that were still closed. She had apparently kicked the thin blanket off during the night, yet she was still really warm. It was an odd feeling to experience on Christmas morning, when it should have been cold outside. They had of course known that would be the case when they had opted to come to South Africa for the holidays.

They were renting a beachside villa for a view days, and Ronda and Dean were renting an identical one right next door. It was the perfect way to spend a vacation with friends. Close enough to share good times, but also with the chance to have some privacy when it was required. The previous night, the four had shared a barbeque – not a particularly festive experience, but enjoyable nonetheless.

"Morning, honey," Clem croaked, realising that she needed a drink as she sat up. Her first sight of the day was Alexa standing at the end of the bed, wearing a long Little Miss Bliss shirt and a Santa hat. She had a beaming smile on her face that instantly made Clem feel like the happiest person in the world. Even better, if that was possible, was that Alexa had a cup of fresh coffee in her hand.

"Morning, baby. I know you're grouchy before your first coffee of the day, so here it is," Alexa said sweetly, offering the cup to Clem.

"Thank you," Clem said sweetly. She took the cup and sipped the piping hot liquid.

Meanwhile, Alexa had walked over to a wardrobe in the corner of the room and opened the doors. She bent down and picked something up, then turned around to show it to Clem.

"Oh, gifts already," Clem smiled, seeing a black box with a fancy bow made of white silk wrapped around it. She continued sipping her coffee.

"Gifts already," Alexa confirmed happily. "I know we agreed to only get each other one thing each. I hope you stuck to that, because I did."

"I might have," Clementine said mischievously. She got up off the bed and stretched her arms up high to work out the kinks after a night of heavy sleep. She was wearing the 'Your moment of Bliss' T-shirt that she always liked to sleep in. With the stretch done, Clem walked over to her travel case and opened one of the side compartments. She pulled out a small dark blue jewellery box, followed by a larger black box with a pink ribbon tied around it.

"Clem!" Alexa exclaimed, her tone implying shenanigans on her partner's behalf. "We said only one gift each!"

"I know," Clem grinned. "There's only one real gift here. The other one is just something I picked up the other day. I figure it's something you will enjoy."

"Okay, well you first," Alexa said. She placed her box on the bed with a flourish, then sat down to watch her girl open it.

"I love the bow," Clem said in delight. She put her two boxes down on the bed, then set about untying the bow to open her gift. When she lifted the lid of the box, she found a bra and panties lingerie set in white lace. Sexy underwear wasn't something that she knew much about, but even she could tell this was seriously expensive stuff. Cursing herself, she felt her cheeks warming up just at the thought of putting the items on.

"What do you think, baby?" Alexa asked anxiously. "I hope you like it. You're so damn hoy, Clem, I don't think you even realise it yourself. I wanted to get you something that you could put on, and you could feel as sexy as you'll look."

Clem looked Alexa in the eye, a shy smile on her face. "You don't know how much I hate myself for feeling embarrassed right now."

Alexa reached over and took her hand, giving it a loving squeeze. "There's nothing to feel embarrassed about, honey. You're a truly beautiful woman."

"I really wish I believed that," Clem said bashfully. "But this is gorgeous lingerie, and I appreciate you buying it for me so much. I'll definitely wear it for you, and hope I don't disappoint."

"Yay!" Alexa squealed. "Trust me, you won't disappoint. You'll blow my mind."

"But first, your gifts." Clementine handed the jewellery box first.

Opening the box up, Alexa took in a deep breath in surprise. She pulled a silver bracelet out of the box and held it up. It had a little heart-shaped pendant on it with the letter B engraved on it.

"B for Blissentine," Clem smiled. "It's a symbol of move love for you, and our love for each other. I hope you'll always wear it."

"I promise I will," Alexa said before leaning in for a kiss. "Unless I'm wrestling, I'll have it on the whole time. Blissentine forever."

Clementine giggled upon hearing what was becoming a frequent phrase. Ronda in particular seemed to like using it. Even among the fans, Blissentine were a popular couple, and it was a popular ship name. In a way it was a shame that they were unlikely to team up on-screen due to the fact that Alexa was a heel and Clem was working on establishing herself as a babyface.

Carefully, Alexa put the bracelet on and fasted the tiny clasp. With that done, she held her wrist up and admired it. "I adore it already, Clem."

"It looks amazing, honey," Clementine gushed. "I'm glad you like it."

"It's my favourite gift ever, I meant that," Alexa said sincerely. She picked up the black box with the pink ribbon and eyes it curiously. "And, apparently, I still have another one to come."

Clem felt her cheeks warming up at the thought of what was inside.

Alexa untied the ribbon and opened the box. Her eyes narrowed slightly in confusion before she removed the gift from the box to examine it. "Uhm, you bought me… what is this?" It was a roll of some kind of pinkish-coloured material.

"It's medical plaster," Clem reported. "I saw it the other day in a store, and I figured it would be a better option for you to, uh, tie me up and cover my mouth with."

"Oh," Alexa said slowly, her eyes widening as she took in what was being offered to her. Clementine was effectively saying by presenting this gift that she was willing to make another attempt to set her reluctance, maybe even fear, aside and allow herself to be tied and gagged as part of a sex game. In a way, for that reason, this gift also meant a lot to Alexa, and was a further expression of Clem's undying affection. "Clem, I don't know what to say," she faltered.

"You don't have to say anything, honey. I'm sorry for how nervous I was last time. Honest to god, I didn't want to be. I wanted to let myself go, I just couldn't. But I want to try again. Do whatever you want to me with that stuff, and make love to me."

"Oh my," Alexa breathed, incredibly turned on by the proposition. "Uh, I can't wait, baby."

"You won't have to," Clem promised, picking up the box containing her new lingerie. "I'm going to go change into this, and when I have, you can tie me up."

"Clem, I love you so much," Alexa said longingly.

"I love you too." Clementine gave Alexa a kiss, then headed for the bathroom, carrying the lingerie box with her.

A couple of minutes later, Clementine had dumped her rather unflattering underwear on the bathroom floor and was standing in front of the mirror in the white lace bra and panties that she had just been given. Seeing herself in something so fancy and revealing made her want to cringe. In her mind, she was nothing special to look at, unlike Alexa, who would have looked stunning beyond words in something like this.

Clem took another moment to fix her hair in the trademark two small pig tails – a look that Alexa loved as much as everyone else seemed to, for whatever reason. Clem was happy to go along with it, simply finding it a convenient way to keep her hair.

"Okay, here goes," she said to the reflection, sounding about as confident as she felt.

Opening the bathroom door, Clem put a warning out there to her girlfriend before she walked out into the bedroom. "I don't think I've done this lingerie justice, Lexi."

"Oh, come out here already," Alexa replied playfully.

When Clem emerged into the room, she found Alexa sitting on the bed, having undressed down to her own incredibly sexy dark grey bra and panties combination. Her beauty was so breath-taking. Clem didn't know what was harder to understand, how someone could look so good, or how she had ended up with this girl as her partner. However it had happened, she certainly wasn't going to second guess her luck.

"Wow, Lexi," she gasped, feeling weak at the knees. "You're so damn beautiful. I don't even know what to say."

Meanwhile, Alexa's mouth had fallen open slightly and her breath had caught in her throat. "Oh, Clem. I can't even… You look absolutely delicious, baby. My god. My mind is blown."

Clem did a little twirl, with the shyest expression imaginable on her face. "I'd never normally wear something like this. I'm glad you like it, though."

"Like it?" Alexa exclaimed as she hopped up off the bed. "I love it, honey. I knew you would look amazing in those, and boy was I right."

They embraced each other and shared a passionate kiss that increased both of their heart rates and started to get them both fired up for what was to come next.

"There's just one finishing touch we need," Alexa said coyly, producing the roll of plaster from where it had been hidden between her breasts.

"A woman of many surprises," Clem giggled nervously.

"Always good ones, though," Alexa added with a grin. She stretched a length of plaster out from the roll with a satisfying tearing sound.

"Hands first," Clem insisted, turning around and crossing her wrists behind her back.

"Oh, like that?" Alexa asked in pleasant surprise. "I was thinking I would tie you to the bed."

"There's nothing to tie me to," Clem pointed out.

Alexa glanced around and saw that it was true. The headboard was part of a complete unit on the wall. There was no framework to it.

"Ah, you're right," Alexa said. "Alright, like this it is. I'll try not to do it too tight."

Loving every second, Alexa worked the plaster around and between Clem's wrists, completely securing them, or so she hoped. "How's that?" she enquired when she had finished and torn the end of the plaster from the roll.

Clementine tried to move her wrists, failed, then turn around to face Alexa. "Well, I can't move. So, good, I guess."

"And good can soon become perfect." Alexa stretched out another long length of the plaster and tore the strip from the roll. "This stuff is so sticky I shouldn't have to wrap it around your head to make it work. Hopefully it'll be more comfortable that way."

"You're the boss," Clem said, doing her best to shrug.

"No, I'm the goddess," Alexa corrected, in what they called her goddess voice. "Now, ssshh." Reaching up, she stuck one end of the plaster to Clem's cheek, smoothed it down across her mouth, then pressed it down again with her fingers to make sure it sealed properly. The outline of Clem's lips was visible under the material, such was the tightness of it.

"Mmmm," Clem moaned quietly.

I guess that worked, she thought. The pathetic noise had been an honest attempt to talk.

Alexa stood back to admire the view. Clem aided her by affecting her most vulnerable expression.

"Best Christmas ever," Alexa proclaimed with a devilish smile. She intended to make sure the statement held true for both of them.


	16. Chapter 16

"Number twenty nine next! Clem, that's you!" Hunter Helmsley called out, shouting to her across Gorilla.

He need not have bothered. Clementine was already standing by the curtain, ready to go. She had been surprised and delighted when she had found out that she was going to enter the women's Royal Rumble at number twenty nine, only one place from last. It obviously meant that she would be in the match towards the end, rather than being thrown out early on before things got interesting.

Even better, from her point of view at least, was the fact that not many women were still out there in the ring. From memory, she recalled the ones remaining in the match as Sonya Deville, Becky Lynch, Bayley, Zelina Vega, Sasha Banks, and best of all, Alexa. It would be the first time they shared a ring as anything other than tag team partners, and Clem couldn't wait.

After Clementine entered, one more person would join the match, and she was also there in Gorilla, ready to go. Clem gave her a smile. "I'm so hyped, Ronda."

"Me too," Ronda said with a smile as she limbered up, keeping herself warm and ready to hit the ring like only she could, in just a couple of minutes' time. Clem could imagine the reaction Ronda would get at number thirty. How could she not be the favourite to win the third edition of the women's rumble after entering it last?

Out in the arena, the fans started counting down from ten. Clem could picture them standing up and turning to face the stage. The astute ones among them had probably figured out that Ronda and Clementine were the two remaining entrants, barring any huge surprises.

The countdown reached five. Clem took in a deep breath, summoning confidence for what was seconds away from being another first, and another huge moment in her career.

"Good luck. Enjoy," Ronda said.

* * *

_WWE Royal Rumble – 26th January 2020_

"The fans counting us down for our twenty ninth entrant," Michael Cole said on commentary. "Who's it going to be?"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

The buzzer sounded, then Clementine's music hit, with the usual, "It's over with!"

"Oh, it's Clementine!" Renee shouted. "Clementine has a great number, and look at her running to the ring!"

Clem sprinted down the aisle, hurling her cap out into the crowd on the right hand side as she did so. She slid under the bottom rope into the ring.

At either the perfect moment or the worst possible moment, depending on whose point of view you looked at it from, Sonya Deville had just received a forearm to the face from Sasha Banks, and had staggered into the middle of the ring.

Clementine made a beeline for her rival and got right in her face, hammering away with right hands.

"Clementine going right after Deville! Those two have been going back and forth for weeks," Renee yelled.

"Sonya's reeling! She's on the ropes!" Corey Graves called.

Clem hit Sonya with a surprise left hand, then followed it up with a powerful right, taking Deville clean off her feet, and up and over the top rope. The crowd were going wild, supporting Clem and delighting in Sonya's elimination.

"Listen to this place!" Cole cried. "Clementine got one over on Sonya Deville again and eliminated her, and the fans can't get enough of it!"

After giving Sonya a verbal send off, Clementine turned around, only to receive a kick in the stomach and a suplex from Bayley.

The match proceeded for the next sixty seconds without anything significant happening. Alexa and Zelina were working together in a corner of the ring, trying their best to get Becky over the top rope.

When the countdown clock appeared on the screen, the fans all got to their feet again and began counting along, looking towards the stage in anticipation of the final entrant.

"Five!"

"Four!"

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

The buzzer sounded. Ronda's theme drew a rapturous ovation from the crowd.

"Oh my god, it's The Arm Collector!" Renee yelled. "Ronda Rousey is number thirty!"

"Look out!" Cole shouted to everyone in the ring as Ronda marched towards it, looking ready to commit murder.

Luckily for Clementine, she was lying in a corner of the ring, having taken a beating from Bayley. Ronda slid into the ring just as the women in the match seemed to realise she was arriving. They all decided that attacking her was the right move, but unwisely chose to do it one at a time. It was like lambs to the slaughter.

With the fans roaring her on, Ronda started laying waste to the competitors one by one with stiff left and right hands. Each of them quickly got back to their feet, only to receive a second punch each. The only ones not on the receiving end were Clementine, who was down in the corner, and Alexa, who had been smart enough to roll out of the ring under the bottom rope, avoiding Ronda while not being eliminated.

With bodies lying all around her, Ronda scooped Sasha Banks up onto her shoulders and delivered her unique Samoan Drop slam.

"What a slam by Rousey!" Graves called.

Ronda dragged Banks to her feet and effortlessly discarded her over the top rope.

"Banks is gone!" Cole cried.

Zelina had gotten to her feet while that was happening and saw an opportunity to attack her former client from behind. She ran at Ronda and delivered a dropkick to her back. Unfortunately for Vega, it had no effect at all. It was like a fly buzzing around a bear, and the bear was already pissed off.

Turning around, Ronda fixed Zelina with a death glare. The smaller woman looked like she was about to wet herself in fear.

"Zelina, I'm not sure that was a smart idea," Renee said, fearing for her welfare.

Ronda ran forward and hit Zelina so hard with a clothesline that she did a complete backflip before splattering down to the mat.

"Oh man, what a clothesline," Graves said.

Ronda picked up Zelina and hurled her over the top rope – her second elimination in thirty seconds.

This time it was Alexa who decided to attack Ronda from behind, sneaking back into the ring at the perfect moment. As Ronda turned around, Alexa kicked her in the stomach and delivered a DDT.

Proud of her handiwork in taking down the all-powerful Rousey, Alexa stood up and taunted the crowd, asking them why they weren't cheering anymore. Unsurprisingly, she was booed for it, but then, in the background, everyone saw Clementine getting to her feet and the boos turned to cheers. Blissentine were the only two people standing.

Wondering what the cheers were about, Alexa turned around. Finding Clem standing there, her eyes widened in surprise.

Clem made no move to attack Alexa, simply standing there, ready to go if it proved to be necessary.

True to form, Alexa was shown mouthing off, but what she was saying wasn't entirely clear. Whatever it was, Clementine responded to it by taking a step closer, mouthing right back.

But then their attention was diverted to Becky Lynch, who was using the ropes to pull herself to her feet. Blissentine glanced back at each other and exchanged a nod, before both rushing Becky and starting to lay into her with kicks. The popular off-screen pairing working together in the ring received a loud reaction.

Once Becky had been beaten down, Alexa grabbed her by the hair and dragged her back to her feet, then shoved her forwards towards the waiting Clementine, who hit a Diamond in the Rough in one smooth motion, drawing an enthusiastic response from her fans.

Clem picked Becky up and bundled her over the top rope, into elimination.

"What a team these two could make!" Cole exclaimed, meaning Clem and Alexa.

Even as he was speaking, he was proven wrong. Clementine was standing right up against the ropes as she eliminated Becky, and Alexa saw an opportunity for herself. She dashed up behind Clem, picked up both of her legs and dumped her over the top rope.

When she hit the floor, Clementine took pleasure in the angry reaction from the fans. Some of them had wanted her to go all the way and maybe even win the match, as unlikely as that prospect had been. No, the honour on this occasion would go to Ronda, who would be proceeding to face Charlotte at Wrestlemania, possibly even in the main event. Main event or not, what a mouth-watering contest that promised to be, Clem thought.

Clementine got up and made a show of asking Alexa what the hell she was doing. Alexa stood there and shrugged, an apologetic look on her face. The exchange gave Ronda the chance to come from behind Alexa and launch her over the ropes, landing on the floor near to Clem, who affected a disappointed demeanour about the whole thing as she turned and walked around the ring, heading for the back without waiting for Alexa to get up.

The first Royal Rumble appearance of Clementine's career hadn't been a long one at all, but she had still enjoyed it a lot. The way the fans had cheered her and Alexa standing face to face would live long in her memory. Hopefully the higher ups had been paying attention. Whether they were written as friends or foes, there was money in putting them in the ring together.

A few moments later, Clem walked through the curtain to the back, finding TJ Wilson and a couple of the other road agents standing there waiting to greet people when they completed their participation in the rumble. As TJ was her agent, Clem naturally walked over to him. "That was fun," she said with a smile as she approached him.

"Glad you enjoyed it," he replied, with a smile of his own. "They seemed to like seeing you and Lexi in the ring together."

"Of course they did. Blissentine forever, man." It was Alexa's voice. She had just walked through the curtain in time to catch his sentence.

"Blissentine forever," Clem confirmed with a big smile as she turned around to give her girl a hug.

"I genuinely felt bad eliminating you, honey," Alexa said while they embraced.

Clem giggled. "Well don't. You didn't book the match. And anyway, who else would I want to throw me out? Who knows, at some point they might use it as a reason to start a rivalry between us."

"You never know. Could be a thing for Wrestlemania," Alexa speculated excitedly. "TJ, you're the man in the know. What's going on?"

"No idea," he shrugged. "I haven't even been told what Clem's got this Tuesday yet, let alone Wrestlemania."


	17. Chapter 17

Clementine and Alexa showed up for Smackdown with neither of them knowing what was coming next for them from a creative standpoint. The only Smackdown women's match that was currently set in stone for Wrestlemania as far as they knew was Ronda Rousey, the winner of the Royal Rumble, taking on Charlotte Flair for the Smackdown Women's Championship.

For obvious reasons, Clem and Alexa were hoping that the higher ups would go with a Blissentine confrontation. Based on what had happened in the rumble match, it did seem like a real possibility. However, only minutes after entering the women's locker room, Clementine discovered that there was something very different lined up for her, when Trish Stratus approached her.

The fact that Trish was there at all was something of a surprise. Sure, she had been in the rumble match Sunday night, as had a bunch of other legends. But Trish was still around, and none of the others were.

"Clementine?" Trish asked with a smile. "Hi. We haven't met."

"Hey, Trish," Clem smiled back. Although Trish had been around all day Sunday, Clem being Clem had kept herself to herself and hadn't spoken to her at any point. "Great job in the Rumble. You were amazing."

"Thanks," Trish said with an even more dazzling smile. "It's starting to become a routine, blowing the cobwebs off me once a year."

Clementine giggled. Unlike most of the other wrestlers, she hadn't grown up loving the wrestling business. She had happened to come into it when she was looking for work, taking the announcing job on NXT, but that didn't mean she had any less passion for it now. It was impossible to even estimate how many hours of her life she had spent going back and watching old matches to learn the history of WWE in order to help herself on commentary. For that reason, she was familiar with a lot of Trish's classic battles.

"This year, though," Trish went on, "they managed to talk me into coming back full time."

"Wait, what?" Alexa exclaimed as Clementine's eyes widened in surprise.

"Yeah," Trish grinned. "Hunter's got quite the gift for persuasion, it turns out. And here I am with my name signed on a one year contract, making me available for all TV events."

"Oh my, that's fantastic!" Clem said. "And you don't need to tell me about Hunter's talent for talking people into doing things. That's one of the main reasons I'm a wrestler right now."

"I thought I was the main reason," Alexa said, feigning a pout, looking like she was in character.

"You're the other main reason," Clementine assured her sweetly.

"You guys are adorable," Trish said warmly. "Anyway, the reason I came over here, Clem, was to say that you and I will be working together at Wrestlemania."

Clementine's eyes widened for a second time. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. "I'm going to wrestle you? Oh my god, I can't believe it!"

Trish smiled again and raised a finger. "I didn't say you were wrestling me, I said working with me. We're going to be teaming up together, in a tag match."

"Oh wow, that's great," Alexa said, delighted for her girlfriend to have something this good given to her for her first Wrestlemania.

"Who are the other team?" Clem asked.

"Sonya, and I'm not sure who else," Trish said. "I don't know if they've got the fourth person finalised. Vince told me they're trying to bring back someone else. The way he put it to me was 'two from the current generation and two legends'. Make of that what you will."

"Guys, I'm so excited right now!" Clementine said, looking from one to the other.

"Aww, Clem," Alexa gushed, putting an arm around her girl's waist and giving her a squeeze. "It'll be a great match. I have no doubt about it."

"Just be prepared to carry me," Trish chuckled, jokingly implying that she was too old to go anymore.

Clementine laughed. "I'm sure I won't have to do that. So, uh, how is this being built? Since you're here, I have to assume it starts tonight?"

Trish nodded. "It certainly does."

* * *

_Smackdown Live – 28th January 2020_

To the surprise of the audience, the second segment of Smackdown kicked off with Trish Stratus's music. She was welcomed with a generous ovation.

"Wait a second, I didn't expect this!" Renee cried as the multi-time Women's Champion walked onto the stage, waving to the fans. "Trish Stratus is here on Smackdown!"

"I had no idea Trish was going to be here tonight," Graves said, sounding happy that she was. "Stratus, a WWE Hall of Famer, competed this past Sunday in the Royal Rumble match, lasting over twenty minutes from the number five position, before being eliminated by Ruby Riott."

"As great as it is to see her, why is Trish here?" Renee wondered.

She didn't have to wait long for an answer. Trish entered the ring, fetched a microphone and got right into her promo. "Three times now, I've entered a women's Royal Rumble match. Three times, I've returned to the ring and given it everything I had. People have asked me, Trish, why do you do it? Why do you keep going back there? Is it nostalgia? Is it the thrill of competition? Is the chance to perform in front of the fans again?"

Trish paused for a second, looking around at the fans while they cheered her mention of them. "Honestly? It's all of those things. But this year, over the past couple of months while I was training to get myself in shape, I felt like I didn't just want to compete in the rumble. I wanted to win it. I wanted a match at Wrestlemania!"

"Unfortunately, Trish, you have to win the rumble to get that," Graves said.

"Obviously, I didn't win the Royal Rumble," Trish sighed. "And I admit, when I got to the back, I was pretty upset about it. That was when Paige walked up to me. She asked me why I was upset after giving such a good account of myself, and I told her what I really wanted was a match at Wrestlemania, and now that hope was gone. Paige smiled at me and said, 'Baby girl,' – I'm not sure I've ever been called that before – 'if you wanted a match at Wrestlemania, all you had to do was ask.'"

"Woah!" Renee cried as he fans cheered loudly. "Trish is going to have a match at Wrestlemania?"

"So," Trish said, smiling. "I'm out here tonight to let everyone know that I will indeed be wrestling at the grandest stage of them all. I really can't wait. The only thing left to…"

"It's over with!"

A loud ovation came in response to Clementine's music interrupting Stratus mid-sentence. Trish turned to face the stage, not looking overly offended by the intrusion.

Clementine walked out onto the stage and down the ramp, throwing her cap out into the crowd as always. Her confident walk and the non-committal expression on her face kept people guessing as to what her purpose for interrupting was. The fans were still cheering, seeming to relish the prospect of a Clementine – Trish match, if that was where this was all heading.

Clem posed on the middle turnbuckle before taking a microphone and jumping into the ring. "Forgive the interruption, Trish," she began as her music faded out. "But I was standing there in the back, and I heard you say you were going to have a match at Wrestlemania. I wanted to come out and make sure I was the first one to say if you you're looking for a challenger, I would be honoured to wrestle you."

The fans cheered loudly, and some of them started trying to get a 'Yes!' chant going. Trish nodded slowly, an appreciative look on her face. She seemed to approve of the idea.

Sonya Deville's music hit, ruining the atmosphere and turning the cheers into boos in an instant.

"What's she doing coming out here?" Renee wanted to know. "I'm up for Clementine against Trish at Wrestlemania. Let's get the match made already."

"I've heard enough from the two of you," Sonya said in an aggressive tone, standing at the top of the entrance ramp. "Clementine, you can forget about wrestling Trish. You and I have unfinished business."

"Oh, do we?" Clem enquired, raising an eyebrow slightly. "Sonya, I thought all of our business was finished, seeing as I've beaten you twice, and I eliminated you from the Royal Rumble. I'm not sure what business we could possibly have?"

Standing beside Clem, Trish seemed amused by that.

"I'll tell you what business we have," Sonya raged. "Everywhere I go, people make comments to me about losing to Clementine. 'Oh, it's the girl who got beat by Clementine.' 'Hey, didn't you lost to Clem?' It's all I ever hear! I'm sick of it! I went to see Shane McMahon earlier today, and he granted me another match with you, at the upcoming Fastlane pay-per-view. So, if I was you, I wouldn't be worrying about who I might wrestle at Wrestlemania, I would be worrying about whether I might even make it to Wrestlemania! Because this time, I'm going to make sure I take care of you once and for all."

"Alright, here's what I'm going to do," Trish said, looking unimpressed with Sonya threats, which were booed by the crowd. "I'm going to come and sit ringside at Fastlane, and I'm going to watch the match up close. If Clementine beats you yet again, Sonya, I will face Clem at Wrestlemania. But if you can beat her, I will face you. Either way, Stratusfaction will be coming to Wrestlemania 36!"

"Alright! I can get on-board with that!" Renee cried as another cheer went up and Trish's music began to play. "It's going to be Clementine versus Sonya Deville at Fastlane, and the winner is going to face Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania!"

Clementine and Trish were shown exchanging words in what seemed to be a pleasant enough manner. Clearly, even with a possible match against each other on the horizon, they were on friendly terms.

"Quite a couple of announcements," Graves agreed as the shot changed to show Sonya glaring down at the ring. "Looking at Sonya's face, I fear for Clementine. Yes, she's gotten the upper hand over Deville several times, but I think there's revenge coming her way, and it's not going to be pretty."

"But what if Clementine wins again?" Renee countered. "Where would that leave Deville?"

"It would leave her not facing Trish at Wrestlemania, I can tell you that much," Graves said, bringing the segment to a close.


	18. Chapter 18

"Ready, Clem?" Alexa asked excitedly.

"Yeah, ready," Clementine replied, sounding more confident than she felt. She was sitting on the bed in their hotel room, back supported by a bunch of pillows. The only item of clothing she was wearing were the panties from the underwear set that Alexa had bought her as a Christmas gift.

"Okay, give me your hands," Alexa said. She was ready and waiting with the roll of medical plaster that Clementine had gifted her.

Clementine held her hands out in front, wrists together, and Alexa began wrapping them in the plaster, tightly binding them. Although she had agreed when Alexa had suggested some bondage and roleplay to spice up the night, and although this wasn't her first time having her hands bound, Clem still felt nervous and shy about it. As was often the case, she cursed herself for that character trait, wishing for all the world that she could get rid of it and be a more confident person, like Alexa.

"How's that?" Alexa asked after tearing the roll of plaster free from the newly-applied restraint around Clem's wrists.

Trying to part her hands proved to be impossible. "I can't move my hands," Clem reported, with an innocent-looking smile.

"That's good," Alexa grinned. "Now, I want to do something else; something that we've not done before. I want to keep your arms in place."

"Alright," Clem said, feeling even more nervous.

Alexa went to work with the plaster, wrapping it around Clem's chest below her bare breasts and around her back. Once she had done so twice, Clementine's arms were unable to move, as Alexa had intended.

"You have such lovely, soft skin, Clem," Alexa purred. "Such a natural beauty, honey."

"Thank you, baby," Clem smiled, putting a brave face on her uneasiness. She didn't feel ready to be bound to this extent, but she didn't want to say so and ruin the evening with her stupid insecurities.

"Now your ankles, then we're pretty much set," Alexa said. She went to work with the plaster again, wrapping Clem's ankles in a couple of layers of it. She had taken her time with all of the binding, clearly incredibly turned on by applying it to her loved one.

With that done, Clementine tried to move against her various bonds. "That's me properly tied up," she reported.

"I know," Alexa grinned, delighted. "There's just one more finishing touch." She crawled up the bed, gave Clementine a very sloppy kiss, then tore off a long length of plaster from the roll. Clem knew exactly where it was going.

"Need you nice and quiet, honey," Alexa said softly as she pressed the plaster down onto the Clem's mouth, sticking both ends down to her cheeks, making sure it was applied as tightly as possible. "How's that?" Alexa enquired.

"Vmmmy tmmt," Clem mumbled.

"Oh, perfect," Alexa cooed. "You look so hot, all tied up and gagged. Are you okay? Can you breathe?"

Clementine nodded. She could breathe. What she couldn't do was move or talk, and it had her heart beating fast. Her instincts were telling her that she shouldn't be in this situation, that it wasn't right. Yet another part of her was saying that it was fun. It was Alexa, the woman she loved, who had tied her up. What was there to be afraid of? Even so, when Alexa disappeared into the bathroom, she began struggling with her bonds, wanting to see if she could get free, and trying to work the plaster off her mouth. None of it was going to work, she soon found out. She was bound and gagged until Alexa let her go.

A short time later, standing in the bathroom in front of the mirror Alexa put the finishing touches to her pink lip gloss and put a sultry pout on her face. She liked what she saw in the mirror. She had recently had the ends of her hair re-coloured in pink to freshen it up. The pink theme was continued with the very revealing bra and panties set she had just changed into, and was rounded off with a pair of long PVC gloves that finished above her elbows. She even had a pink diamond stud in her belly button piercing.

"That's what a goddess should look like," she said aloud.

With that, she was ready to walk back out into the room. She opened the door, walked slowly around the corner, and stood facing the bed. Her change in appearance drew a gasp of surprise and delight from Clementine.

"Hi. I don't know if you've seen one before, but I'm a goddess," Alexa said pleasantly, a devilish grin on her face.

Clementine was of course unable to reply with anything more than a sigh of, "Mmppph." She had a look of unbridled desire in her eyes, telling Alexa all she needed to know about whether she liked the way she looked in the new outfit that she had decided to wear for the roleplay. Clem liked to call her a goddess, so tonight she would be a goddess.

Right now, anxiety about being tied up notwithstanding, Clem longed to get her hands on Alexa's delightful body, displayed at its absolute best in the sexy and slightly kinky attire. But no, not only could she not get her hands on Alexa, she could barely move them at all, such was the extent that the plaster was restraining her.

"I was told a gift had been left for me," the goddess said as she slowly approached the bed, eyeing Clem up. "And yes, I would say this is a very good gift. A gift fit for a goddess like me. Your name's Clementine, right? That's what I was told."

With Alexa now standing right beside her, Clem looked up into her eyes, giving her what she hoped was a pleading look. It wasn't entirely fake, either. She would have liked to have her bonds and gag removed. But she knew that wasn't going to happen. Instead, she was going to have to sit there, almost naked, wrists hurting from being tied tightly together, and mouth filled with the taste of whatever adhesive they put on medical plaster.

Alexa put her hands on her hips and an offended look appeared on her face. As was often the case, the thought went through Clem's mind that her girlfriend was an amazing actress. "Really?" the goddess demanded. "You're going to ignore me?"

"Mmmmm!" Clementine protested, making the point that she couldn't talk through the plaster.

"Ah, of course, you're gagged," the goddess, looking pitifully at the gift in front of her. "It's probably for the best, to be honest. And tied up nice and tight, too. That's good. You see, while I look sweet as can be right now, I can be a nasty goddess when I want to be, and if my gift tried to get away or call out for help? That definitely wouldn't make me happy. I guess whoever left you for me must have realised that."

Clem had no choice but to sit there and listen, getting more frustrated by the moment. As much as she loved Alexa's gift for dressing up and playing characters, right now what she really wanted was sex, and freedom. Or freedom and sex. Whatever order they came in, she desired both things. She was burning up for Alexa, though. She craved to have her girl's head between her legs, pleasuring her as only Alexa could. Yet she could do literally nothing to make it happen any faster than Lexi chose. She tried to raise her hands and strain against the wrist bondage, knowing even before trying that it wouldn't work. She had already spent long enough struggling while Alexa had been in the bathroom, before giving up.

"Now, don't struggle, Clementine," the goddess admonished, holding up a gloved finger to emphasise the order. "Just accept your situation. You're the property of the Goddess of Bliss now. But don't worry, you'll enjoy being mine. I'll make you happy in ways you've never known before. That's why I'm called the Goddess of Bliss."

Alexa leaned over the bed and gently pulled Clem's legs further down until she was left lying rather than sitting. "Now, I think it's time I inspected my gift, because you look like possibly the best I've ever had." She sat down next to Clem and started rubbing her hands on her stomach in a sensual manner. "Yes," she purred. "I love these abs. You're very toned, Clementine. Hey, can I call you Clem?"

"Mphhh," Clem grunted.

Alexa shrugged, then addressed Clem in her sweetest voice, still caressing her stomach. "I guess I can. I mean, you can't do anything about it either way, right?"

Clementine strained against her bonds and growled in frustration. Being taunted like this was also a new thing, and it was driving her crazy. The PVC gloves felt so nice against her skin, too, in addition to looking great on Alexa. She hadn't even known her girlfriend had bought them.

"Hey!" Alexa snapped. "Enough of that! Lie still! I've barely even started inspecting you yet!"

After spending another minute dwelling on Clem's stomach, Alexa allowed her attention to shift upwards, towards her pert little breasts.

"Mmmm, now look at these," Alexa cooed. "I'd say you have perfectly sized breasts, Clementine. Very beautiful indeed." She began to caress one of them, focusing particularly on the nipple.

Clem gasped, feeling more turned on by the moment. Naturally, Alexa knew all of the ways she liked to be touched to get the best responses. She really was a master of making sex delightful for both of them – the exact opposite of selfish lover.

Unfortunately, the more turned on Clem got, the harder it was to control her breathing. With her mouth sealed up, she was worried that she might be about to choke or suffocate, and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it. In that frightening moment, any element of fun vanished. She had to be untied, and she had to be untied now.

"Lmmmy mpppph!" Clem cried, starting to thrash around as much as she could.

"Clem? Are you okay?" Alexa asked with concern, snapping out of character.

Clem yelled into the plaster, breathing heavily, in obvious distress. Alexa quickly started to peel it away, seeing that the experience had stopped being fun for her partner.

"Sorry, Lexi, I can't," Clem gasped as soon as she was able, feeling tears filling her eyes. She felt awful for ruining the fun, but she had been genuinely frightened. "I'm just not ready for this," she blurted out.

"Oh, Clem, I'm sorry," Alexa gasped, guilt written all over her face as she realised she had pushed for too much, too soon. The last thing she would possibly have wanted was to make Clementine feel frightened.

"No, I'm sorry," Clem said tearfully. "I wish I could have enjoyed it. I really wanted to. I'm just not ready."

"Let me untie you," Alexa said, hurriedly making a start on the task. It took a couple of minutes to get the job done, by which time Clem had tears of frustration trickling down her cheeks.

"I really am sorry, Lexi," she mumbled, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment as soon as they were freed.

"Hey, no, you're not the one who should apologise," Alexa said. She gently took Clem's head in her hands and planted a loving kiss on her forehead. "I'm sorry for doing something you weren't comfortable with. I should have moved at your pace, and I didn't."

"You're not mad at me?" Clem mumbled, face still hidden.

Alexa gently moved Clem's hands so that she could look into her eyes. "No, of course I'm not," she said earnestly. "If anyone should be mad, it's you. I promise never to push you again, honey. I promise."

Clementine pulled Alexa down into a hug, and they lay there holding each other for a few moments. "I would like to do that kind of thing with you, Lexi," Clem said eventually. "I just wasn't ready. I do trust you. I do get turned on by the roleplay and stuff, I just started panicking that I couldn't breathe. I'm pathetic."

"No, you're not pathetic," Alexa said firmly. "You're the opposite of pathetic. You just need to do things at your own pace, and I need to remember that. Next time, if there is a next time, we can do it exactly how you want."

"Okay," Clem said, managing a smile. "That sounds good to me. I love you, Lexi. I love you so much."

Alexa gave her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "I love you too, Clem, with all my heart."


	19. Chapter 19

_WWE Fastlane – February 23rd 2020_

After the promotional video package for the Sonya – Clementine match, Trish Stratus's music began to play in the arena, starting with the familiar laughter. She was given a warm reception by the fans, who didn't seem as fired up for the upcoming match as WWE might have hoped for. It was possible that the Sonya and Clementine rivalry had been going on a little too long at this point. Nevertheless, the commentary team made sure to hype it up for the audience at home.

"As we just heard, Trish Stratus is going to sit ringside during this match, Corey," Renee said. "She's got some scouting to do."

"That's right. Whoever wins this match is going to Wrestlemania to face Stratus," Graves said. "As if that wasn't enough of an incentive to get the W, we all know this is personal between Sonya Deville and Clementine."

"It sure is," Renee replied. "Sonya can't handle the fact that every time she's come up against Clementine, Clem has put one over on her, including eliminating her from the Royal Rumble."

"Not quite every time," Graves retorted. "Sonya holds a tag team victory over Clementine, when she and Becky Lynch defeated Clementine and Ronda Rousey."

"True, but it was Becky who got the win that night. Sonya had never beaten Clem herself. She'll have to change that tonight, or she'll be staring down the barrel of missing the biggest event of the year."

Trish had walked around the ring towards the timekeeper's area. A leather office chair was ready and waiting for her, positioned in front of where Greg Hamilton and Jojo sat. Trish took a moment to wave to the crowd before taking her seat. The fact that she had signed a contract for a year was not public knowledge, so as far as anyone knew at this point, she was only going to have the one match at Wrestlemania. That fact, plus the addition of the other returning star, would hopefully make the tag team match worthy of a spot on the card at the biggest pay-per-view of the year.

Once Trish was seated, her music stopped playing and was replaced by Sonya's theme. Some mild booing came her way as she walked out onto the stage with her hair up and an angry look on her face.

"It looks like Deville is fired up for this one, as well she should be," Graves said. "Sonya can put all of the embarrassment she's suffered at the hands of Clementine - all of the jibes and jokes that have been made - she can put them aside by beating Clem here tonight."

"But what if she doesn't?" Renee pondered. "What if Sonya loses to Clementine again? Where does that leave her? A little under a year ago she was walking into Wrestlemania as the Smackdown Women's Champion. This year, she might not walk into Wrestlemania at all."

"It's a real possibility," Graves acknowledged. "And it's got to be a scary one if you're Sonya Deville."

Sonya completed her entrance routine, then directed her attention towards Trish. She walked over to the corner of the ring and pointed at the Hall of Famer. "First Clementine, then you," she threatened.

Trish was shown, not looking particularly impressed by what she saw in the ring.

"It was clear to me that Trish wanted to wrestle Clementine, and Clementine wanted to wrestle Trish," Renee said. "But it might not work out that way, thanks to Shane McMahon making this match."

The camera shot changed to show a backstage area just outside of Gorilla. Clementine was standing next to Kayla Braxton, who launched right into her question, over the top of a cheer from the fans who were watching on the big screen.

"Clementine, a spot at Wrestlemania is on the line tonight. If you can beat Sonya Deville, you will go on to meet Trish Stratus. Any last minute thoughts before you head to the ring?"

"Last minute thoughts?" Clem repeated. "My last minute thoughts are to go out there and do my best to win, the same as I do every night, Kayla. But if I were Sonya Deville? Then I would have some last minute thoughts alright. I'd be thinking about sitting at home April 5th and wallowing in self-pity while Wrestlemania is happening and I'm not there. I'd be wondering where it all went wrong over the past year, and how I've gone from being the Smackdown Women's Champion to becoming a complete joke who can't buy a win. And I'd have to admit to myself that Clementine is simply better than me." With that, Clementine turned to look at the camera so that she could address Deville directly. "Sonya, after I beat you yet again tonight, your career? It's over with."

Clem's music hit as she walked off, using the words she had just spoken for an intro in place of the pre-recorded version of them that was usually used. The fans cheered both the promo and the fact that Clem was about to come out.

Moments later, Clementine walked out onto the stage. She couldn't help noticing that she received a louder ovation than Trish had gotten. Although it had no real significance in practical terms, it still meant a lot to Clem that she had so much support from the fans. She wasn't sure she was deserving off it, but she wasn't going to complain. As a babyface, her job was to get the people behind her. For whatever reason, what she was doing was working.

The way WWE were playing things was that Clem and Trish had respect for each other, and were happy to face each other in a friendly rivalry at Wrestlemania, if that was how things turned out. For that reason, after throwing her cap out into the crowd and making her way around the ring, Clementine slapped hands with Trish as a sign of respect before climbing the ring steps.

Standing on the middle turnbuckle to give her diamond pose towards the crowd left Clementine with her back to Sonya, who chose to use that fact to her advantage, rushing Clem and pulling her legs out from under her, sending her falling face first onto the bar that connected the turnbuckles to the ring post, before crashing down to the floor.

The crowd cried out in shock at such a painful spot kicking off the match, and some people got a "Holy shit!" chant going as Clem lay on her back on the floor.

The way the match began allowed Sonya to have the upper hand for most of it, mercilessly beating Clem around the ring, but not quite managing to do enough to earn a three count. The contest brought out the best in both women: Clem's ability to sell for others, and Sonya's talent for delivering powerful-looking strike attacks.

When the call came to go home, it was a cue for Clem to start a fight back. She fought her way out of the sleeper hold that Sonya had locked her in, managing to get back to her feet and turn the predicament into a suplex.

Both women struggled to get up. When they made it to their feet, Clem began teeing off with her trademark punching combination, which was good for a two count when she followed up with a cover. A northern lights suplex produced another near fall, then Clem went for her signature top rope flatliner, with the fans and Trish cheering her on.

"Clementine into the cover," Renee called.

"One!"

"Two!"

Sonya got a shoulder up just in time, drawing groans from the fans and a look of surprise from Clementine, who appeared to think she had done enough for the win. She made the mistake of taking a moment to vent her frustration at referee Valentina Rivera's count, holding up three fingers in protest.

"The shoulder was up! Two!" Rivera insisted strongly.

Frustrated, Clementine walked back over to Sonya and bent down to try and pick her up. Sonya was ready and waiting, and rolled Clem into a pinning position. She put her legs up onto the middle rope to gain extra leverage – a fact that went unnoticed by Rivera as she counted.

"One!"

"Two!"

The fans erupted into cheers when Trish shoved Sonya's legs off the ropes, breaking the count in the process. Deville's only error had been to try the crafty move so close to where Trish had been sitting.

Livid, Sonya jumped right to her feet and yelled at Trish, demanding to know what the hell she thought she was doing. Trish fired right back, gesturing to the ropes and accusing Sonya of cheating.

While the altercation was happening, a woman with long dark hair ran up behind Trish and kicked her square in the back of the head, sending her collapsing to the floor.

"Wait! Who is that?" Renee demanded. "Someone just…"

The cameraman was repositioning himself, and the assailants face came into the shot as she yelled abuse down at the fallen Trish.

"That's Melina!" Graves realised. "Melina is here!"

"Why?" Renee asked. "Why did Melina just attack Trish Stratus?"

In the ring, Sonya was standing by the ropes, watching what had just gone down. She had no idea Clementine was coming at her from behind. Clem grabbed Sonya's legs and rolled her backwards into a small package pin.

"One!"

"Two!"

At the last moment, Sonya was able to counter, rolling Clem over into a pinning combination in the process.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Oh, I thought Deville had it!" Graves cried when Clem was just able to kick out.

"I thought Clem had it!" Renee responded.

Both competitors got up, and Clementine attempted to hit the Diamond in the Rough, only for Sonya to block it and push Clem forwards, into the ropes. Clem rebounded and came back towards Deville, right into a savage kick to the side of her head that seemed to knock her clean out.

"It's over with!" Graves yelled, mimicking Clementine at the moment of her own demise.

The crowd cried out in disappointment, and some of them reluctantly counted along with the foregone conclusion that was the count when Sonya made a cover.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Sonya Deville is going to Wrestlemania!" Graves cried.

As soon as the pin happened, the shot changed to show the outside of the ring again, where Trish had risen to her knees, facing the woman who had attacked her. Melina dropped Stratus for a second time, with a brutal kick to the face.

"Deville wins, but why is Melina out here?" Renee demanded. "Melina, a former Women's and Divas champion, came from… I don't even know where, and she assaulted Trish Stratus. It was that distraction that allowed Sonya to win the match."

"Don't even try that one," Graves said as Sonya was shown celebrating, standing over the unconscious Clementine. "Sonya beat Clem fair and square, right in the middle, and she's going to Wrestlemania."

Satisfied that Trish was out cold, Melina entered the ring, walked over to Sonya and raised her hand in victory, throwing it in the faces of the fans. The former champion's returned noticeably seemed not to be a surprise to Sonya, who simply exchanged a few words with Melina. Both of them looked particularly pleased with what had just happened.

"Melina celebrating victory with Sonya Deville. What does all this mean? Is Melina back in WWE?" Renee asked, starting to wrap up the segment.

"I think the answer to the last of those questions is pretty obvious," Graves said. "But why did Melina attack Trish Stratus? Whatever the reason, we now know that Deville will face Stratus at Wrestlemania."


	20. Chapter 20

Alexa and Clementine had managed to get back to their hotel room after the Fastlane pay-per-view in time for the airing of the latest edition of The Ronda and Clementine Show. They were tucked up in bed, with Alexa's tablet standing on the cover between them, playing the WWE Network live stream.

While Alexa was of course looking forward to seeing her girlfriend on the show, she was also nervous about the fact that she was going to have to watch the car wreck that Clem had been involved in. No matter the fact that Clem had escaped with 'only' a case of whiplash, Alexa still expected that seeing her in a situation that could have been so much worse would be heart-wrenching.

"I'll never like seeing myself on TV," Clementine said shyly when the show got started, with the narrator describing some of the dangers of demolition derby racing to the viewers.

"Don't be silly," Alexa chuckled. She waited for a prolonged shot of Clem to appear on the screen before adding, "Look how cute you are. Literally adorable."

"Okay, now I'm blushing," Clem said with a little smile.

Alexa turned and gave her a peck on the cheek. They watched a couple of minutes of the show in a comfortable silence, seeing Ronda and Clementine meeting their driving instructor for the first time.

"It's a shame they don't let us make a Blissentine Show," Alexa commented. "You guys have done some seriously dangerous things, but you always look like you're having great fun while you're doing it. I could have been the one doing those things with you."

Clementine looked at her girlfriend. "You can do those things with me without it being part of a TV show," she pointed out. "If we want to do demolition derby racing, we can. If we want to go scuba diving we can, with or without sharks."

"That's a very good point," Alexa admitted. "Maybe you'll get me in the water one day after all. But if you let me drown, I'll kill you."

Alexa's silly jokes like that always tickled Clementine, and she spent the next minute or so giggling away to herself.

Fifteen minutes later, the show had reached the point where the demolition derby race had started for real. Clementine's car was shown streaking off into the lead at the beginning of the opening lap.

"Wow, Clem! What a great start you got! You timed it perfectly!" Alexa exclaimed.

"I know! It was totally luck, not judgement, believe me. I couldn't believe no one came past me. I was expecting to get swamped as soon as the lights went out."

The coverage showed the race from various angles, and included footage from on-board both Clementine and Ronda's cars. When Clem reached the second turn, the closest driver behind her torpedoed his car up the inside of hers, slamming into her side and spinning her out.

"What the heck was that?" Alexa demanded, raising her hands in protest. "He didn't even try and make that turn!"

Clementine smiled to herself, enjoying her girl getting so involved in what they were watching. She knew, though, that the wreck would be coming up relatively soon.

When the narrator started talking up the coming accident, Alexa took Clementine's hand and held it.

"The crazy thing about it is how close I was to avoiding hitting anyone," Clem said. "At least, that's how it seemed at the time. If it had been a few inches different, the wreck never would have happened."

Clementine's car was shown racing towards the figure eight intersection, with multiple cars coming at it from the opposing angle. She steered to try and avoid a collision, nearly succeeding, but the rear end of her car was clipped by one of them. The impact sent her veering towards the grass on the inside of the track. In an attempt to stay on the dirt surface, Clem turned back towards it, but it was too late. Her front left wheel went onto the grass and dug in, and the car was instantly flying through the air. The wheel that had dug into the ground came clean off and went careering out of the shot, while Clementine's car rolled three times before coming to rest on its roof, all of its bodywork bent out of shape due to the multiple impacts. The accident was replayed multiple times from different angles, including from inside the car.

Dean Ambrose had been at the race to support Ronda, and a camera crew had been with him behind a trackside barrier to capture his reactions to the race. The crash was shown from his perspective also. "Jesus Christ!" he exclaimed while Clem's car was rolling.

Dean's reaction was nothing compared to Alexa's. She had grabbed hold of Clem in horror and wrapped her arms around her as if protection at this point might be of some use. "My god, Clem," she breathed. "My god. I can't… I don't even know what to say. That was horrifying."

Clementine was awkwardly hugging Alexa back, in attempt to assure her that there was nothing to worry about. "It was. Seeing it back again now, it seems worse than it felt at the time. But I'm okay, Lexi. I'm here, and I'm fine now."

"But it could have been so much worse," Alexa said, squeezing her again. "You could have been badly hurt. The car could have set on fire. Anything could have happened."

Until then, the possibility of being trapped in the car and burned alive hadn't occurred to Clementine. It was an incredibly grizzly thought, and one she wanted to get out of her head as soon as she possibly could. "That didn't happen, honey. Any manner of frightful things could happen to any person, any day. What matters is what does happen. I got whiplash, and yeah, it was nasty for a few weeks, but I'm here with you now, and I'm fine."

The show was now forgotten about. Neither of them watched as Clementine got out of the car, holding her neck and looking slightly unsteady on her feet. The loved up couple now had all of their attention on each other. Alexa kissed Clem lovingly on the forehead, then again on the lips. "I need you to promise me that'll never change, Clem. I don't know what I'd do without you in my life."

"You'll never have to find out, honey," Clementine assured her. "I'm not going anywhere, and neither are you. When I'm old and in a wheelchair, you'll be pushing me around."

"Oh, is that so?" Alexa asked, laughing more than she usually would have because of her heightened emotional state.

"You bet it is," Clementine giggled. "Blissentine forever, right?"

"Blissentine forever," Alexa agreed.

Their passion for each other was unleashed by those words, and they began kissing with almost frantic urgency. Alexa's hands came up to hold Clementine's head in place, ensuring that she couldn't pull back even if she had wanted to. It was the beginning of half an hour of needy love-making. By the end of it, they were lying in each other's arms, feeling tired, relieved, and most of all, content.

"I love you, honey," Alexa said, voice barely above a whisper.

"I love you too, Lexi. You're my whole world."

"I was just thinking the same thing," Alexa said, giving Clem another peck on the lips.

"Really? See, I was thinking something a bit different to that," Clementine said, using something of a sultry tone.

Unsurprisingly, Alexa caught the tone. "Oh? I'm liking the sound of that. Tell me more."

Clementine smiled. "I'm sure you do like the sound of it. Well, it just occurred to me that I was sitting here earlier, watching myself flip a car three times in a demolition derby race. I can do that, yet I feel afraid of letting my girlfriend tie me up and make love to me. When I look at it like that, it makes no sense to me."

"So what are you saying?" Alexa asked hopefully.

"I'm saying I'm sorry for the way I lost it that night. You did nothing wrong at all. I was being insecure and stupid, and I don't know why. Of course I shouldn't feel scared, vulnerable, unsafe or whatever when I'm around you. There's no safer place for me to be than with you. I know you would never hurt me, and I feel now that if I was able to let myself go when you tied me up, it could be some of the best sex we've ever had. Ronda hasn't kept it a secret how much she enjoys doing that sort of thing with Dean. I just… I want that for us, Lexi."

"I do too, honey. I felt so bad last time when you got scared. I never want to see you upset like that again, least of all because of something I've done. I was prepared to never mention bondage again, knowing you weren't comfortable with it."

Clementine shifted a little closer to Alexa, nestling against her. "I appreciate you being considerate of me. But I realise now how stupid I was being. I feel embarrassed about it now, and I feel sorry for ruining the experience for you. You got all dressed up in that incredibly sexy goddess outfit - which blew my mind by the way – and you were doing your best to make it enjoyable for us both. And I ruined it."

"You didn't ruin it, Clem," Alexa insisted. "You didn't feel comfortable, and there's nothing wrong with that. There's no reason to be embarrassed about…"

"But I do feel embarrassed," Clem said. "I love you. I trust you. I want us to do kinky stuff in the bedroom and spice up our sex life. I want you to tie me up again. Tie me up so I can't move, plaster my mouth shut, and…"

"And what?" Alexa giggled, seeing Clem suddenly go all shy. "Go on, finish your thought. Tie you up, plaster your mouth shut, and…"

Clementine bit her bottom lip, eyes gleaming in embarrassment. "And, uh…"

Alexa laughed heartily. "Go on. And what?"

"And eat my pussy," Clem ventured.

"Oh!" Alexa said slowly. "Well, if that's what you'd like me to do, I'm sure it can be arranged. I'd love to eat your pussy. The only problem is, I left the plaster at home."

Clementine pretended to huff indignantly. "I guess there won't be any pussy eating for you until we get home then, will there?"

"Aww," Alexa said, looking hard done by.

Softly, Clementine kissed her on the lips. "At least it's something for you to look forward to."


	21. Chapter 21

_Smackdown Live – February 25th 2020_

Smackdown's second hour began with Sonya Deville's music playing. As ever, it was met with boos from the crowd. When Sonya walked out onto the stage, she wasn't alone.

"At Fastlane, Sonya Deville defeated Clementine, earning herself the right to face Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania," Renee said. "But that's only half the story."

"It's the important half of the story," Graves opined. "What you're alluding to, though, is the return of the woman we see accompanying Deville to the ring. Melina shocked the world by returning to WWE, attacking Trish Stratus, who was interfering in the match on Clementine's behalf."

"What?" Renee cried, outraged by that comment. "The only thing Trish did was stop Deville cheating to win. And none of that answers the question of why Melina was even in the building. Why has she come back to WWE?"

"Hopefully we're about to find out," Graves said.

Sonya and Melina were in the ring, and Deville had fetched herself a microphone. "So I can beat Clementine after all," she gloated when her music faded out, drawing more boos. "Don't boo me! I told you all along there was only so long Clem could keep getting lucky against me. I told you she was a fraud. And I was proven right. I beat Clementine, and I now have a guaranteed match with Trish Stratus at Wrestlemania."

Melina was shown nodding her agreement and approval. Sonya looked at her and smiled. There was a touch of evil in it.

"As tempting as it is to revel in the fact that Clementine is out of Wrestlemania, I had a better idea," Sonya continued. "You see, I wasn't the only one who wanted to face Trish Stratus. Melina here also wanted Trish, for reasons she will reveal in a moment. So, I was thinking about making the Wrestlemania match a handicap match, pitting Melina and I against Trish. But then I realised it could get even better still. Therefore, Melina and myself have requested, and been granted, a tag team match at Wrestlemania. Our opponents will be Trish Stratus and Clementine."

The fans cheered that news, glad of the fact that Clem would be going to Wrestlemania after all.

"I wouldn't be cheering if I were you," Sonya warned. "This isn't going to be some fairy tale story for you to get warm and gooey about. This is going be the beat down to end all beat downs. At Fastlane, I defeated Clementine. At Wrestlemania, I'm going to end her."

That promise concluded Sonya's part of the promo. She handed the microphone over to Melina, who received a fresh chorus of boos. If it bothered her, she certainly didn't show it. "For the past two days, everyone has been wanting to know why I showed up at Fastlane. Why is Melina back in WWE? That's the question everyone has been asking." Her expression hardened. "My question is why wouldn't I be back in WWE? Actually, why wasn't I back in WWE sooner?"

"What's Melina talking about?" Renee asked.

"There have been three women's Royal Rumble matches. Three!" Melina emphasised heatedly. "And how many was I invited to compete in? None, that's how many. Yet Trish Stratus has been in all three. All three! And have I been inducted into the WWE hall of fame? No. But Trish Stratus has. Those things were bad enough, but the final straw was when Trish showed up the week after the rumble and was literally handed a Wrestlemania match for absolutely no reason. I wasn't going to sit at home and let it slide anymore. It was time someone did something about the blatant favouritism in WWE. It was time someone did something about Trish Stratus. That someone is me!"

"Quite the statement by Melina," Graves said as the fans booed.

"At Wrestlemania," Melina continued, "not only will Sonya put an end to Clementine, I will rid WWE of Trish Stratus permanently."

"It's over with!"

The crowd came to their feet, cheering Clementine's music loudly. Clem walked out onto the stage with Trish Stratus beside her. Both of them looked unimpressed with what they had just heard. The two new arrivals both had microphones in hand. It was Clementine who spoke first when her music faded.

"Oh, Melina, let's be honest for a moment, shall we? You claim 'everyone' has been asking why you're back in WWE. The truth is no one gives a damn why you're back in WWE. No one missed you while you were gone, and no one wanted you back." The fans cheered at Melina's expense, while she was shown with an angry look on her face. "And Sonya, you think you proved something Sunday by kicking me in the head after your new friend there distracted me? You didn't. You proved nothing. You might have pinned me. Good for you. But you've still not beaten me fair and square, and we both know it. I've got news for you, Sonya. None of what I just said is going to change at Wrestlemania. I'm going to drop you with the Diamond in the Rough again, and we all know that when that happens…"

"It's over with," the fans said on her behalf.

"That's right," Trish said, taking over. "I want to be clear that while I would have been delighted to face Clem at Wrestlemania, I'm equally delighted to team up with her. That's bad news for you, Melina because you stand out here telling us 'everyone' wanted to know why you came back to WWE? By the time I've finished kicking your ass all over Miami Gardens, you'll be left as the one wondering why Melina came back to WWE."

As Trish glared down at her future opponent, her music began to play. In that moment, Clementine found it hard to stay in character. It had dawned on her that she was having the time of her life, standing next to Trish Stratus, having just delivered a promo for a match that was going to be on the main card at Wrestlemania. It was mind-blowing in the extreme when she actually thought it through like that.

* * *

"It just hit me when we were finishing her promo how lucky I am," Clementine said to Trish. They were in the women's locker room, sitting and chatting away about anything and everything. They had been at it ever since coming back from delivering their segment, nearly an hour earlier. Alexa wasn't part of the conversation as she was out in the arena, competing in the episode's six woman tag team main event.

"There's a lot more to it than luck, Clem," Trish insisted. "You're in great shape, you cut a good promo, your ring work is solid, and you have a character that people want to get behind."

Coming from Trish Stratus, that meant the world to Clem. She felt her cheeks warming up in embarrassment. "I simply play a more confident version of myself, Trish."

"Exactly," Stratus smiled.

The locker room door opened and Dasha Fuentes hurried into the room with a look of concern on her face. Everyone in the locker room looked at her, sensing that something was wrong. "Clem, it's Lexi. You'd better come."

Clementine felt her blood run cold. The bad news was hers. Something had happened to Alexa in the ring. She was hurrying towards the door on instinct before her brain even processed the fact. "What is it? What's happened?" she demanded as she rushed past Dasha, who followed her, running as fast as she could on her heels to try and keep up.

"She was doing a suicide dive spot on the outside with Naomi. I think Naomi caught a bit too much air coming through the ropes, and she almost cleared Lexi. Lexi managed to catch her, but she took a knee in the head in the process. The doctors had a look at her, threw up the X, and brought her straight to the back without her finishing the match."

"Oh no," Clem cried despairingly. "Not another concussion. This is so bad. This is so, so bad."

Alexa had already suffered two concussions in the past few months. Although they had been minor ones, WWE were rightfully very cautious when it came to that kind of injury. Alexa had been pleasantly surprised that she had only been kept of the ring for three weeks on the previous occasion. Now, if this was yet another concussion, Clem could see it being a big problem. And Wrestlemania was only just over a month away. Alexa would be heartbroken if she had to miss it.

It only took Clem a minute to reach the doctor's room. When she got there, the door was standing open. Alexa was sitting on the edge of the bed, with the doctor shining a light into her right eye. Right away, Clem could see that her girl wasn't with it.

"Lexi, I'm here," Clem said, resisting the temptation to rush over to her. She had to let the doctor do his work.

"Clem," Lexi said groggily. There was obvious relief in her voice, knowing that her girl was there. "I don't know what happened."

"You took a knee to the head, and you have a concussion," the doctor informed her.

"How bad is it?" Clem asked, fearing the answer.

"It's not good," the doctor said, now shining the light into Alexa's left eye. "The fact that she can't remember what happened isn't a good sign, either. Alexa, I'm ruling you out of action initially for a week, and you're going to report for tests this Friday. You know the procedure by now."

"Yeah," Alexa mumbled miserably. "How long am I going to be out for?"

"I can't answer that question right now," the doctor said reasonably.

"How long?" Alexa demanded, anger coming through.

Clementine recognised that as a part of the concussion. Mood swings could be one of the primary effects. She walked over and took Alexa's hand, leaning down to kiss her on the forehead. "It's okay, Lexi. Don't get angry with the doc, he's just doing his job."

Alexa looked up and Clem, which also meant looking up at the lights. She squinted her eyes against the painful brightness. "Clem, I don't want to be out of action."

Sighing, feeling her heart breaking at seeing the love of her life in obvious pain and confusion, Clementine sat down on the bed and wrapped Alexa in her arms. She caught the sympathetic look on the doctor's face. He was a good guy, who always treated his patients well in Clem's experience.

"Spend a few days at home resting, and we'll see how you are Friday," he said, trying to sound encouraging.

"It'll be okay, Lexi," Clem whispered, holding her tight. "It'll be okay, baby." She had almost made it a promise, but had realised just before saying it that it wasn't a promise she could make. Feeling herself tear up, she confronted the reality that it probably wasn't going to be okay.


	22. Chapter 22

It had been a rough couple of weeks for Alexa and Clementine. The concussion Alexa had suffered as a result of the inadvertent knee to the head from Naomi had been a relatively serious one. For a few days afterwards, she had struggling with severe headaches and some disorientation.

By the time she had reported for her assessment by WWE's medical team, she had resigned herself to getting bad news. Three concussions in the space of a few months was always going to be a problem. Even so, the verdict had shocked Alexa when she had received it. No physical activity for WWE for an initial two month period. "Initial?" she had squealed in horror as she saw her career flashing before her eyes. "What do you mean initial? Are you saying I might be done for good?"

"No," the doctor had emphasised, trying to sound reassuring. "I'm not saying you're done for good. I'm saying you're going to need an extended period to heal. Initially, I'm putting that period at two months. We'll keep assessing you on a regular basis as we move forward, and that will enable us to determine when you can get back in the ring."

As awful as two months out was, meaning that she would miss Wrestlemania, Alexa had felt relieved that the doctor seemed to believe she would recover in time. Anything was better than being forced into retirement.

Trying to focus on the positives, and with the help of Clementine, Alexa had focused herself on resuming light training as soon as she felt well enough, with the long term aim of keeping herself fit enough to make a comeback as soon as she was permitted to do so.

For her part, Clementine had done everything she could to be there for her girlfriend during the difficult period. They were each other's rocks, and Clem felt sure that she had helped Alexa stay as positive and upbeat as possible. Even so, now that Alexa was feeling essentially back to normal, Clem had planned a surprise for her.

Unfortunately for Clementine, while she was sitting next to Alexa on the couch in their living room, trying to pluck up the courage to bring up the surprise she had planned, someone else got in before her with a different surprise.

"Who's that?" Alexa asked when her phone rang, annoyed with the interruption during the show they were watching. Her eyes widened when she picked her phone up and saw the name on the display. "It's Vince," she said, looking at Clem and narrowing her eyes in confusion.

"Better answer it," Clem advised.

Alexa swiped the green phone symbol across the screen, then raised the phone to her ear. "Hello, Vince."

"Alexa. How are you?" the chairman asked in his usual booming voice.

"I'm feeling a lot better, thank you. The headaches have gone now. Obviously I'm upset about not being allowed to compete for a while, but I'm focused on recovery. I want to be back as soon as I can."

"How about the Smackdown after Wrestlemania?"

Alexa wasn't sure if she had heard correctly. "Sorry, what? I've been told I'm out for at least two months. Wrestlemania is only a few weeks away."

"I should have been clearer," Vince said in what was as close to an apologetic tone as he was ever likely to use. "You won't be coming back to wrestle. That'll be a decision we take after you've been cleared by the medical team. The reason I'm calling is we don't want to lose you as an on-screen performer for an extended period of time. I want you to be the new Smackdown General Manager."

"Of course I would love that," Alexa said without needing to think about it. "It's not wrestling, but at least I would be able to appear and do something."

"Precisely. And it's not as if you have to stop being GM once you're able to compete. We have Corbin on Raw carrying out both roles. We're considering possibly turning you face with this, too."

"Whatever you think is best," Alexa said happily. "I'll be glad to come back in whatever role you have for me."

"Great. I'll let you go," Vince said. As was his usual manner, once business had been concluded, he wanted off the phone. "I'll see you Wrestlemania weekend."

"See you then," Alexa replied politely before the call was ended.

"They're keeping you on TV somehow?" Clementine guessed excitedly.

Alexa looked at her and gave one of her most dazzling smiles. It was the first time in weeks that Clem had seen one like it. "You're looking at the next Smackdown General Manager, as of the episode after Wrestlemania."

"Oh my god, yes!" Clem beamed, pulling Alexa into a hug. "You'll do an amazing job as GM, and it means we still get to travel together. I'm so happy."

"Me too," Alexa said, meaning it. "I hated the thought of sitting at home for months while you were away working. I would have missed you so much. I would have missed everyone else as well, not to mention missing performing. I can't wrestle, but at least this way I can stay on Smackdown. Vince said they're considering turning me face, too. I'm not sure how I feel about that."

Clem smiled. "They could make Blissentine a thing on TV if you were face."

"Oh, that's true," Alexa said, her eyes widening again at the thought.

"I think this calls for a celebration," Clementine decided. "I had a little surprise of my own in mind for tonight, now that you're feeling better. I'll be back in a minute."

Clem separated herself from Alexa and headed out of the room. The truth of it was that she had two surprises in mind for her girl. One of them would have to wait for another night, though. It was going to take a few drinks for her to find the confidence necessary. What she had in mind for tonight was difficult enough for her. For the millionth time, she wished she had the same natural confidence that Alexa possessed.

Nervousness notwithstanding, Clementine found the item she needed and headed back to the living room, hiding it behind her back.

"Very mysterious, Clem," Alexa said with a curious grin on her face. "What's going on?"

Clementine produced a brand mew roll of the beige coloured medical plaster that they had used several times for bondage in the bedroom. The last time, Alexa had made an effort to dress up in a beautiful outfit for some roleplay, only for Clem to freak out at being tied and gagged, in her mind ruining the night for both of them.

Clem had felt bad ever since that night, and had promised Alexa that she would allow herself to be tied up again. She wanted to get used to the experience. She wanted to enjoy it. As with so many things, it was a matter of confidence.

"I want you to tie me up again, Lexi," Clem said as she said down beside her girlfriend, who looked turned on already, just at the sight of the plaster. "I promised you we would, but I wanted to wait until you were well."

"Are you sure, Clem?" Alexa asked, gently taking the roll of plaster. "I mean, I know we talked about it before, but I really don't want to do something you're not comfortable with."

"I feel like I have to get used to the feeling of being tied up, and of having my mouth covered. You know what I'm like with my stupid confidence issues."

"Yeah, you need to relax, Clem," Alexa said tenderly. "How about this? What if I tie you up and we don't do anything else? I mean, no roleplay, no sex. Just you tied up. We can take it slow, and like I said, you can relax."

"Yes, that might be best," Clem said, feeling her cheeks warming up.

"How about I put one of our favourite movies on?" Alexa suggested. "I'll tie you up and we can watch the movie together. If you're not comfortable or if you get panicked again, I can free you right away."

Clementine nodded, looking into Alexa's eyes, trying to convey the trust she had in her. "Okay, yeah. Let's do that. I trust you, Lexi."

"Good, because nothing bad is ever going to happen to you while I'm here. I'd never let it happen, you know that."

"I do," Clem said with a serious nod.

"Okay, do you want me to do it now?"

"Let me quickly finish my drink first." Clem picked up her bottle of mineral water and downed it. After putting the empty bottle on the floor, she held her hands out to Alexa, wrists together. "Can you tie my hands in front this time? It's a bit more comfortable than behind, and it might make it easier for me to relax."

Alexa leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. "Whatever you want, honey. I love you."

"I love you too," Clem said with real feeling.

With that, Alexa stretched the first length of plaster from the roll and stuck it to Clem's right wrist. She proceeded to wrap the sticky material around several times, making sure to do so tightly. Even so, there was a notable tenderness about the way she worked. "How's that?" she asked when she separated the roll from the several layers around Clem's wrists.

Clementine tried to move her hands apart, finding herself unable to do. "I can't move, so good, I guess," she reported.

"Clem?" Alexa asked, seeming uncharacteristically uncertain.

"What's up?" Clem asked with concern.

"Do you think I'm weird for enjoying this? Tying you up, I mean. Or having you tie me up?"

"No, not at all," Clementine said vehemently. "It's a way of adding a bit of kink and spice to our sex life. There's nothing wrong with that. It's not the thought of what we're doing that bothers me. It's only my confidence to be tied up without freaking out. Hopefully tonight can get me over that. Now tie my legs," she added, lifting her feet and plonking them on Alexa's lap.

Alexa giggled excitedly. "Your wish is my command." She went to work with the plaster, securing Clem's ankles together with multiple layers of plaster, just above her ankle socks. "Before I cover your mouth, what movie are we going to watch?"

"How about The Holiday?" Clem suggested. It was one that they loved to snuggle up in front of. Tonight, they could do so again, albeit with Clem tied up.

"Oh, yeah, that's perfect," Alexa said happily. She stretched out another length of plaster from the roll and tore it off, ready to put it over Clementine's mouth. "Now, remember, try and relax. Concentrate on your breathing, not on trying to talk, as tempting as it is. If you need me to untie you, make it clear like you did last time, okay?"

"I will. I'm ready," Clementine said, feeling angered by the nervous feeling she had in the pit of her stomach.

Alexa pressed the plaster down across Clem's mouth, smoothing it over her lips with her fingers. She knew she had done a good job because the outline of the lips was visible under the plaster. The sticky adhesive would seal them up nicely. "Okay?" she asked, wanting make sure at every stage that Clem was comfortable.

"Mmm hmm," Clem mumbled. There was a slightly vulnerable look in her eyes that fired Alexa up big time. But on this occasion it wasn't about sex.

"Why don't you turn around and lie on my lap?" Alexa suggested. "You can curl up and be nice and comfy. Plus, lying on me, you know you're safe, right?"

Clementine like that idea a lot. Moving awkwardly because of her bonds, she shifted herself around, lay down and rested her head on Alexa's lap. Alexa put a reassuring arm around her as she began scrolling through the list of movies on Netflix to find the one they wanted.

Trying to relax into her positon wasn't easy for Clem. Alexa had made a proper job of tying her up, leaving her unable to move her feet or hands. Part of her wanted to resist, to be freed, but Clem willed herself to suppress her fears. She didn't want to panic again. Instead of thinking about the bondage, she nestled against Alexa, focusing on cuddling up to her as best she could. An involuntary moan escaped her, muffled by the plaster.

"Okay, Clem?" Alexa asked cautiously, gently stroking her girlfriend's hair, trying to reassure her with affection.

"Mmmm," Clem mumbled into her gag, trying to make it sound like a positive response.

"Good girl. You look so cute. So beautiful. I love you."

Clem tried to respond that she loved Alexa too, but it was pointless. The plaster reduced any attempt to talk to muffled nonsense, and made breathing more difficult. She told herself to stay quiet and watch the movie that Alexa had just put on.

* * *

The Holiday was a long movie, lasting nearly two and a half hours. As the credits began to roll, Clementine was still lying on Alexa's lap, bonds and gag still in place. As the time had gone on, she had become restless, partially because being tied up for that long was uncomfortable, but mainly, to her pleasant surprise, because she was extremely turned on. The plan to use this as a way for her to overcome her anxieties had worked. She felt like if she could last two hours in bondage on the couch, she would have no problem being tied up for sex. Alexa had done her best to make the experience pleasurable, affectionately petting Clem and saying nice things in between the dialog in the movie.

Clementine struggled to sit up, then looked Alexa in the eye. "Mmmph," she groaned, using her eyes to encourage Alexa to take the plaster off her mouth.

Alexa obliged, peeling it off carefully to cause as little pain as possible. "Wow, that's still sealed up so well," she said, not hiding the fact that she was aroused by it. "I'm glad you didn't panic. But are you okay? I mean, would you want to be tied up again?"

"I'm okay," Clem said, breathing gratefully. "Actually, I'm very turned on. So yes, I would do this again. You know how my confidence is. Once I realise I can do something…"

"You can do it," Alexa finished for her. "Yes, I know, honey. I'm really turned on, too. We could go upstairs and, uh, I was going to say I could tie you up again, but you're still tied now."

"I think that's enough being tied up for one night. But we should definitely go upstairs."

Clem's intentions were perfectly clear, and Alexa certainly wasn't going to argue.


	23. Chapter 23

Wrestlemania 36 was underway, with nearly eighty thousand people packed into the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. Backstage, Clementine was already dressed in the ring attire she had purchased especially for the occasion. She felt nervous, waiting for the biggest match of her career, in front of by far the biggest crowd she had performed for to date. The tag team match was fourth on the card, meaning that there now wasn't long to go before the competitors had to go to Gorilla.

Clearly picking up on her girlfriend's nerves as she paced in front of a row of lockers, Alexa stood up and hugged her. "It's okay, Clem. Don't get worked up. You're going to ace this match and it's going to take you to the next level. This time next year, I can see you in a title match. That's how fast you're growing."

"Come on, Lexi," Clem said dismissively. "I'm not even thinking about having a title match right now, let alone at Wrestlemania. I'm just starting out."

They released the embrace and Alexa shook her head slightly. "You're tagging with Trish, on the main card at Wrestlemania. The fans are behind you. Hunter and Vince are behind you. Whether you want to say so or not, you're one of the stars of the Smackdown women's roster."

Clementine laughed, dismissing the suggestion. "Lexi, you're a seven time champion. You're a grand slam champion. Ronda and Becky are going to go out there tonight and main event Wrestlemania; the first time women have ever done it. Ronda is one of the most recognisable women in the world, and Becky is arguably the most over star in the whole company right now. I'm hardly in the same league as any of you three. Hopefully one day I will be, but now? No way."

Trish Stratus had walked over and heard most of what Clem had said. She put a friendly hand on her tag team partner's shoulder and gave her a knowing smile. "You're going to be a big star, Clem. You shouldn't talk yourself down."

"Now you're ganging up to make me blush," Clem said, smiling shyly.

"No, we're ganging up to give you some facts," Trish grinned. "Let me tell you exactly how this match we're having tonight came about. Vince spoke to me the night of the rumble and said he wanted me to tag with someone at Wrestlemania. He gave me a list of three names they were considering to partner me. I said if it was my choice from those three, I'd want it to be Clementine."

Clem looked down for a moment, feeling emotional at that revelation. "You don't know what that means to me, Trish. Thank you."

"You're welcome. But please stop thinking like you're not going to make it to the top table. Girl, you're already there. So sit down at that top table, eat, and enjoy yourself."

The analogy felt a little awkward to Clementine, but she understood the message that Trish was trying to get through, and she appreciated it. She resolved herself to try and heed the message. Now wasn't the time, though.

"Ladies, it's time," Sonya called to them. She was standing near the locker room door, with Melina waiting next to her.

"Good luck, Clem. Steal the show," Alexa said, giving her one more quick hug.

"Thank you, honey. I wish you could be out there with me."

"I wish I could too, but I'll be watching. I love you."

"I love you too," Clem said before giving Alexa a kiss on the lips.

With that, it was time to go. Sonya was standing with her back against the locker room door to keep it open. Trish and Melina had already left. "Let's do it," Clem said to Deville on the way past, out into the hallway.

* * *

_Wrestlemania 36 – April 5th 2020_

Following the promo package for the tag team match, Sonya Deville's music was the first to play. The match was hardly the biggest draw on the card, but Sonya still received some boos as she walked out into the enormous open air stadium.

"This time last year, Sonya Deville was walking into Wrestlemania as the Smackdown Women's Champion," Corey Graves said on commentary. "Since then, her fortunes have been mixed at best. Lately, Clementine has been something of a thorn in her side, thanks to what Sonya describes as a series of lucky victories."

"That might be how Sonya describes them, but none of the victories Clem got were lucky," Renee Young countered. "She earned every one of them with the Diamond in the Rough, and if she hits it again tonight, it's over with."

"That's cute, Renee, using Clementine's lines," Graves said condescendingly. "It's going to take more than catchphrases to get the job done here, though. Let's not forget that Sonya Deville is a former Women's Champion, as is Melina, as is Trish Stratus. Sonya told me earlier today that her goal is to become the champion once again, and she sees taking out Clementine as her way to get to Ronda Rousey or Becky Lynch – whoever the champion will be by the end of the show tonight."

As Sonya neared the ring, the production crew faded her music and hit Melina's.

"For the first time in ten years, Melina is appearing at Wrestlemania," Graves said. "And what a statement she made on return her at Fastlane, attacking Trish Stratus. Melina is furious at what she sees as favouritism towards Trish by the higher ups in WWE, and she's determined to make a statement that she deserved to be invited to compete in the women's Royal Rumble matches, and that she deserves a place in the WWE Hall of Fame."

"I can understand some of Melina's grievances, but I don't agree with the way she's gone about addressing them," Renee said. "Over the past few weeks, she's angered Trish Stratus big time, and I think there's retribution coming monetarily."

Melina went through her trademark entrance routine, performing the splits on the ring apron. Ten years might have passed since her last appearance, but it certainly didn't look like it.

Standing behind the curtain, Clementine took one last deep breath for confidence when she heard Melina's music fading. She was next to enter.

"It's over with!"

Clem took pleasure in the cheer her music got. It had a different sound to it compared to the ovations she got most weeks, largely because this was an open air stadium. She walked through the curtain onto the stage, receiving another cheer.

"Wow," Clem said to herself as she put a hand up to the peak of her cap to try and block out the sun so that she could look around the stadium. So many people, and most of them were on their feet for her. She knew it was a moment she would never forget as long as she lived. Alexa had promised her there would never be anything like her first Wrestlemania appearance, and now she knew why.

Despite the almost overwhelming emotions she was feeling, Clem knew she had to stay in character, which meant looking like her only focus was on kicking Sonya and Melina's asses. She walked quickly down the huge entrance ramp, throwing her cap out into the crowd on the right hand side. Someone had just gotten lucky. It was a one of a kind cap, with the Wrestlemania 36 logo on the side as well as Clem's C logo on the front.

After walking around the ring, Clem climbed up to the middle turnbuckle and gave her familiar diamond pose. By now it was a regular occurrence for pretty much everyone to repeat it back to her. Even so, the sheer scale of the sight in front of her, so many people willing to buy into what she was doing, made her feel truly humbled.

Clem climbed up to the top rope, then dropped into the ring. It was time for Trish to enter.

BREAK

As the best seller in the match, it had unsurprisingly been Clementine who had been chosen as the member of her team to become isolated in the ring for an extended period of time by the two heels. She had given her all to put over the beating that Melina and especially Sonya had inflicted on her.

Clementine finally stood a chance of tagging out when she was able to counter Melina's Sunset Split and hit a DDT, leaving both legal women down on the mat.

In the corner, Trish was standing on the bottom rope, clapping her hands to encourage the crowd to get behind Clem. They were only too glad to oblige, wanting to see Trish get into the match and cut loose, in the manner that the person receiving a hot tag always did in matches like this.

Crawling across the ring, Clem sold being exhausted and in agony, making it look like every inch she covered took everything she had. She was waiting for the sound of Melina's hand slapping Sonya's, signalling that their tag had been made. When she heard it, Clem leapt the last few feet towards her corner, making contact with Trish's outstretched hand.

The crowd erupted when the tag was made. As Trish rushed into the ring, Clementine rolled out to the floor, where she could lie and play dead for a couple of minutes until it was time for her to return to the action. It was a moment she had been looking forward to all day, after TJ Wilson had described the spot she was required to pull off. It promised to be one of the highlights of the night, so long as she pulled it off with the proper timing.

While she waited, Clem listened to the reactions of the fans. The biggest acid test of any match was whether it held the interest of the crowd, assuming it had it to the beginning. Thankfully, the four women had managed to achieve that aim. The fans were solidly behind Trish, who was in the ring fighting both opponents at once.

Continuing to sell the beat down she had taken, Clem rolled over onto her back on the floor. In reality, she had altered her position so that she could see the closest corner of the ring, where Melina would soon be climbing to the top rope.

Sure enough, Melina appeared momentarily, climbing the turnbuckles in a methodical manner. Clementine began to get back up.

Nailing the timing perfectly, Clem entered the ring at the same moment Melina launched herself off the top rope. The audience had been expecting some sort of move to be delivered by Melina to Trish, but instead they got the most emphatic Diamond in the Rough that Clem had ever delivered.

The loud reaction Clem heard as she hit the move told her that it had brought the crowd to their feet, and would hopefully make the event's highlight package.

Clem jumped up, talking some smack to the fallen Melina and giving her diamond pose in celebration of the awesome move she had just hit.

Sonya charged Clem from behind, smashing a forearm into her back.

As Clem went down, she heard the fans cheering again. Trish would have just grabbed Sonya, and would be delivering Stratusfaction.

Lying face down, Clementine heard the impact of the finishing move, followed by the count.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

Clementine's first Wrestlemania appearance ended with a win. Not for the first time in the night, she felt overwhelmed. With the match over with, to coin a phrase, Clem was free to get up and celebrate with her partner.

Trish was ready and waiting for exactly that, having just had her hand raised by the referee. She spread her arms, and Clementine walked into them. "That was amazing, Clem. The timing on that spot, absolute perfection. It was beautiful."

"Thank you, Trish," Clem said tearfully, hugging her tightly. "Thank you for everything. This has been the best night of my career, and it's been an honour to team with you."

"The honour is mine. Let's celebrate," Trish said happily.

The two victorious competitors parted, and the referee stood in between them to raise their hands.

Clem told herself to remember the moment as she tried to keep the tears from flowing. She didn't know if she would ever have it this good again.


	24. Chapter 24

The Raw and Smackdown episodes after Wrestlemania were always unpredictable to say the least. Fans arrived at the arena or tuned in around the world having no idea what to expect, and the superstars themselves were in a similar situation. It was possible that in addition to new rivalries starting, there would be returns from injury and debuts from NXT.

With all of that in mind, Clementine was buzzing with excitement when she arrived at the arena with Alexa. For the foreseeable future, Alexa's participation on the show was going to be limited to her role as General Manager while she allowed her multiple concussions time to heal. There had been some rumours online about Lexi having to retire from wrestling. Even though Clem knew those rumours were unfounded, it had still upset her deeply to read them, as she had imagined how she would have felt if it actually had been true.

While Alexa's immediate future was settled, Clementine had no idea what was lined up next for her. She was coming off a win at Wrestlemania - undoubtedly the biggest achievement of her short career, and the moment she had enjoyed the most. It was impossible not to feel humbled by the fact she had teamed with Trish Stratus and won a match at WWE's biggest show of the year. Clem was riding a wave, and she wanted to keep the momentum up for as long as she could.

Alexa and Clementine had only been in the locker room for a few minutes when Stephanie McMahon walked into the room. "Clem, can I borrow you for a few minutes?" she asked, smiling pleasantly.

"Uh, sure," Clem said, already trying to read Stephanie in an attempt to figure out what this was about. She didn't come up with much.

"I'm sure, like everyone else, you're eager to know what your next angle is going to be?" Stephanie asked once they were out in the hallway.

Unsure where they were heading, Clementine walked beside the boss, looking up at her. "I am," she said with a nervous smile.

"Good, because you're about to find out."

The walk was only a short one. Stephanie pushed open a door and led Clementine into an office where Hunter and Vince were standing, chatting away to each other. Clem couldn't help feeling a bit intimidated by being in Vince's presence. He didn't make her feel at ease the way Hunter did. She wasn't sure if she should take off her cap in the Chairman's presence. On balance, since standing there without it on would make her even more uncomfortable, she opted not to.

"Ah, Clem," Vince boomed, greeting her with a smile as she walked in. "How do you like the idea of being Smackdown Women's Champion?"

Clementine's mouth fell open in shock. "How do I… What? You want to make me the champion?"

Hunter chuckled at her reaction. "Yes, Clem, that's what we want to do. Allow me to explain. Tonight, Vince is going to go out to the ring and announce that as of next week, he is switching around the Commissioners of Raw and Smackdown. So, Steph will be in charge here on Smackdown, and Shane will be making the jump over to Raw."

"Okay," Clem said slowly, lost as to what that had to do with her character.

Vince said, "We want you to turn heel, joining Stephanie and become the centrepiece of her new corporate team that we're going to call High Society."

That was a hell of a lot of information for Clementine to take in over the space of a sentence. On first instinct, she wasn't overly keen on taking a heel turn. But when it was all said and done, Vince McMahon himself had just stood in front of her and asked how she would like to be Smackdown Women's Champion. That wasn't something to be taken lightly, or, she realised, something she could turn down. In that moment, she recalled conversations she'd had in the past with Alexa regarding playing a heel. Lexi's opinion was that while it was nice to be a babyface and get a standing ovation when you went out to the ring, playing a heel was a lot more fun. What the heck, Clem thought, I'll give it a go.

"You're smiling," Stephanie said to Clem, doing the same herself.

"I'm trying to picture what heel Clementine would look like," Clem said, looking around the three bosses for a response.

"Smartly dressed, like me," Stephanie said. "We know baseball caps are your thing, and people love to buy them, so how about we design you a new one, maybe in black with a gold C on the front?"

Clementine's eyes widened as she mentally pictured that image, along with the Smackdown Women's Championship around her waist. There was no denying it, she loved the prospect of having the title. Looking at Vince, she smiled. "I'm in. Absolutely I'm in. I mean, thank you for the honour of being Smackdown Women's Champion. It will mean so much to me."

Vince nodded, and it was Hunter who spoke next. "Needless to say, you won't be the only member of High Society."

"Tell me Lexi is in it," Clem said eagerly.

Hunter smiled in response to her excitement. "You seem more excited about teaming with her than about being the champ."

Maybe I am, Clementine thought.

"Good news, because yes, Alexa is on the team," Stephanie said. "It's me, you, Alexa, Sonya and Nikki."

Clem felt so excited that she laughed. "Oh my god. That's so sick. Me, Lexi and Sonya all together? And Nikki is coming back?"

"Not tonight, but soon," Vince said. "We're not exactly sure when Nikki will come into the picture yet, but we have a concrete plan for the initial formation of the group and your title win. It will happen at Backlash, where you'll face Becky one on one."

After asking a few more questions about how events were going to pan out, Clem was dismissed from the office. She could not wait to get back to the locker room to tell Alexa the news. Not only was she going to turn heel; not only was she going to be the champion; they were going to be on a team together! Once Alexa was cleared to wrestle again, Blissentine could potentially tag together in a match. What a dream come true that would be!

Walking back into the locker room, Clementine was instantly disappointed. While she had been away, Sonya had arrived and was apparently already in possession of the news about High Society. She was in the middle of telling Alexa all about it, denying Clem the chance to be the one who did so.

"Clem!" Alexa cried, seeing her approaching. "We're going to be on a team together!"

"I know!" Clementine said with a big smile on her face despite her thunder being stolen. "Vince, Hunter and Stephanie just told me about it. It's going to be Steph, us, Sonya and Nikki."

"I'm really excited about it," Sonya said.

"How much were you told about what's happening?" Clementine asked her.

"That we're going to be on a team called High Society, and who the members are going to be."

Clementine's spirits lifted immediately. She had the privilege of breaking the best piece of news to Alexa. "So, uh, there is one more minor detail," she said, doing her best to play it down so as not to give the game away.

"What?" Alexa asked eagerly.

"At Backlash, I'm going to become the Smackdown Women's Champion."

"Clem!" Alexa shrieked, grabbing her in a tight hug. "Oh my god, this is the best news ever! I was excited enough about heel Clem, but this is something else."

"Congrats, Clem," Ronda Rousey said. Changing nearby, she had overhead the conversation, and was overjoyed for her close friend.

"Thank you," Clementine said, feeling herself blushing with everyone's attention on her.

"I can't even picture a heel Clementine," Ronda said.

Sonya chuckled. "Me either."

Clementine said, "Stephanie's description was that I should be smartly dressed like her, and they're going to design a new black Clementine cap with a gold C on the front."

"Amazing," Alexa gushed. "I don't know about you ladies, but that sounds like an excuse for a shopping trip to me. Don't worry, I'll help you pick out the perfect outfit."

"It's your area of expertise," Clem smiled.

* * *

The next day, as promised, Alexa had taken Clementine on a shopping trip to find suitable clothing for her upcoming character. The requirements were so far removed from what Clem would choose to wear off-screen that purchasing an entirely new wardrobe was necessary. It was more than worth the price, considering that Clem was going to become Smackdown Women's Champion for the first time as a part of the angle.

Looking at herself in the full length mirror in a fitting room at a store they had already spent an hour in, Clementine blushed. She had literally never dressed up in business attire like this before. She had on black pants and a matching blazer, with a cream blouse underneath. Earlier in the day, she had also purchased a silver necklace and watch to complete the new look. The reflection barely even looked like Clementine, in her opinion. The shy smile and the two little pigtails were the seemingly the only things unchanged.

"This is going to take some getting used to," she muttered to the reflection.

Putting a brave face on it, Clem walked out of the fitting room, heading back into the store to show Alexa how she looked. And that was another problem, she thought. This was pretty much the first time she had worn high heel shoes, and she found walking in them difficult.

Uncertainty and awkwardness aside, it warmed her heart when she emerged back into the store and saw the look in her girlfriend's eyes. While Clem was uncertain about her change in appearance, Alexa plainly found it breath-taking.

"Oh, Clem, you look stunning," Alexa breathed. "My heart. I don't even know what to say."

"So you like it?" Clem asked shyly, standing there feeling like the most awkward person in the world.

"You look absolutely beautiful, honey," Alexa said sincerely. She gave Clementine a peck on the cheek before standing back to admire her again.

"I'd better start dressing like this from now on," Clem said. "I feel so awkward right now, there's no way I'd want to go on TV feeling like this. I can barely walk properly in these stupid shoes, either."

"Good idea," Alexa said, having to chuckle at what Clementine had said. "There's a month until Backlash. By then, you'll be fine."

"You think so?" Clem asked uncertainly.

"I know so. Confidence, Clem, remember?" Alexa said sweetly.

"I'm trying my best, honey, trust me."

Alexa pecked her on the cheek again. "I know you are. Trust me, the first night you walk out dressed like this, with the belt around your waist? You're going to knock them dead."

"The old Clementine is over with," she said with an air of resignation.

"True. But the new Clementine is going to be awesome. I think you'll do an amazing job as a heel. The hard part will getting people to boo you. I can see you being the type of heel people cheer for most of the time, regardless of what you say or do."

"Like you, you mean?" Clem said, managing a laugh.

Alexa smiled broadly. "Exactly. Just picture the first time we enter an arena side by side, with the others in the group around us. What a picture that will make."

"We'll have to get one framed," Clementine decided.

"I can't wait for Backlash. Even though I can't wrestle, this is the most excited I've been for a long time. My Clem is going to be champion. I love you so much, honey."

"I love you too. Thank you for always being there for me. You always know the right thing to say or do. I'm so lucky to have you."

"We're lucky to have each other. Blissentine forever," Alexa said, taking Clementine's hand and squeezing it. "Now, let's get back to business. We've got plenty more outfits to buy you!"


	25. Chapter 25

_WWE Backlash – May 24th 2020_

Standing on the turnbuckles as she completed her entrance, Clementine gave her diamond pose to the fans. She basked in the cheers coming her way for what was intended to be the last time. By the end of the match, if things went to plan, those cheers would be replaced with boos and she would be the Smackdown Women's Champion.

Clementine climbed up to the top rope, then jumped down into the ring. Her music faded out, then after a moment Becky Lynch's theme replaced it. Waiting for her opponent to make her entrance, Clem felt grateful towards Becky. During the month of build work for the match, Becky could not have been any more helpful or easier to work with. It meant a lot to Clem, who realised that some in the company didn't like the way she had been fast tracked to the main roster without having to go through NXT.

With that in mind, Clem could have understood if Becky had been reluctant to put her over for the title. The reality had been the exact opposite. Showing class and professionalism, Becky had been extremely open to sitting down and working out a finish that would put over Clem and her ultimate alliance with the soon-to-debut High Society group.

Clementine noticed that the reaction for Becky wasn't all that much louder than the one she herself had received moments earlier. Considering that Becky was possibly the most over of all of WWE's women's rosters right now, that was quite a remarkable thing. It was also a lot of popularity to throw away with a heel turn. But then, Clem wondered, might Alexa have been right in saying that she could end up being a 'popular' heel? It was not impossible.

Becky completed her entrance routine, with her name being chanted throughout the arena as her music faded out.

It was time for Greg Hamilton's ring announcements. Clem limbered up, putting a determined expression on her face. She wanted to look like she wasn't willing to leave Backlash without the title.

"This contest is set for one fall, and it is for the Smackdown Women's Championship! Introducing first, the challenger, from Atlanta, Georgia, Clementine!"

Clem stepped forward and made the diamond pose in Becky's direction, as if lining her up for the Diamond in the Rough. The Irishwoman glared back, unimpressed and unintimidated.

"And her opponent, from Dublin, Ireland, she is the Smackdown Women's Champion, Becky Lynch!"

Another cheer went up as Becky stepped up to Clem, holding the championship belt in her face and mouthing off about being The Man.

When laying out the match that afternoon, it had been agreed that Clem would show heel tendencies throughout, not just for the finish. She started off in that vein by slamming a forearm into Becky's jaw, knocking her down before the match had technically started.

With the fans cheering the start of the action, the referee called for the bell and hurriedly picked up Becky's title to get it out of the ring.

Meanwhile, Clem was stomping the hell out of Becky as if her life depended on it. They didn't know it yet, but the fans were already watching a new Clementine in action.

* * *

Lying face down on the canvas, Clementine heard boos start coming from the crowd. She knew the reason: Stephanie McMahon, the recently appointed commissioner of Smackdown, would be walking down the entrance ramp. No one knew why she was coming out, they just knew they hated her.

Seeing Stephanie arriving at ringside, Becky looked at her and hesitated for a moment before locking in the Disarm-her on Clementine.

As soon as the hold was cinched in and Clem started screaming in pain, Stephanie climbed up onto the ring apron. Wanting to prevent any interference, the referee rushed over there to order McMahon to get down. His attention should have been on the submission hold. If it had been, he would have seen Clementine tapping vigorously on the mat.

More boos came from the crowd, but Clem also sensed confusion in their reactions. Good, she thought. They couldn't figure out a motive for Stephanie screwing over Becky, or a reason for her to help Clementine.

Furious at being shafted out of retaining her championship, Becky relinquished the hold, stood up and ran over to Stephanie. Before McMahon could get off the apron and out of danger, Becky grabbed her with both hands and hauled her over the top rope into the ring.

Stephanie quickly got up, only to receive a right hand than knocked her straight back down. As Stephanie rolled out under the bottom rope, holding her face, the fans cheered Becky for laying her out. But they still couldn't work out why any of it was happening.

Behind Becky, Clementine had made it back to a knee. As Lynch turned around, Clem sprung herself high into the air, catching her opponent with a Diamond in the Rough. The fans erupted at the prospect of a new champion being crowned.

"There it is! We've got a new champion!" Corey Graves yelled on commentary.

Clementine frantically rolled Becky over and made a cover, hooking the leg.

"One!"

"Two!"

Becky kicked out at the last moment. It was the first time anyone had kicked out of Diamond in the Rough, and the fans went crazy once more. At this point, they were cheering for both women equally.

"No! We don't have a new champion!" Renee Young cried. "Somehow, Becky kicked out of the Diamond in the Rough!"

"How? No one does that!" Graves protested.

The kick out left Clementine sitting in the middle of the ring with an incredulous, wild-eyed look on her face. She simply could not believe that she hadn't won the match. Punching the mat several times in anger, she got back up and began to line Becky up for a second Diamond in the Rough.

Outside the ring, Stephanie had fetched the championship belt from the timekeeper's area. With the referee checking on Becky, she slid it under the bottom rope. It came to rest only a foot away from Clementine, who looked at it for a second before slowly picking it up.

"Stephanie just passed the title belt to Clementine. Why is McMahon trying to help Clem? I don't understand this at all," Renee said.

"And why has Clem picked up the belt?" Graves added.

To prevent the referee seeing Clementine with the belt, Stephanie got back up on the apron to distract his attention.

The production crew got a shot of Clem standing with the belt in hand, looking from it to Becky and back again. She seemed to be weighing up the decision whether to accept Stephanie's assist and use the belt to put an end to Becky.

"No Clem, not this way," Renee said, coming to the realisation of what was happening at the same time everyone else did. The fans started booing, trying to dissuade Clem from turning her back on the way she had always done things: the right way, the courageous way.

Becky slowly got to her feet, using the ropes to help her. She groggily turned around, looking like she didn't know where she was.

A fiery intensity came to Clem's expression, burning in her eyes. She ran at Becky and launched off her feet as she swung the belt, putting everything she had into the impact when she nailed Lynch between the eyes.

The fans groaned in disappointment, and there were noticeable boos. But there were also some cheers, Clem noticed.

She got down and covered Becky, hooking her leg. As she did so, Stephanie got off the apron, freeing up the referee.

Turning around, the official saw a cover in progress and got down to count.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

Clementine wanted to burst into tears of joy. She was the Smackdown Women's Champion. A dream had become reality. The bell had sounded and her music was playing. To her surprise, the boos she could hear didn't bother her at all. She was the champion! What a moment! What an honour!

Standing up, Clem found Stephanie getting into the ring. The boss picked up the Smackdown Women's Championship, smiling at the new champion.

Clementine just stood there, not celebrsting, looking at McMahon. After a moment, she smiled and the two women walked into each other's arms in a triumphant embrace. It was too much for the fans, who now booed aggressively. Clem selling out for the title was not something they could possibly support.

Standing over the unconscious Becky, Clementine emphatically raised her newly-won championship in the air, while Stephanie raised her other hand. Both women had nasty sneers on their faces.

Imagining the commentators putting over her heel turn, Clem's heart was racing and goosebumps covered her arms. In that moment, she felt like part one of her career as a wrestler had just ended. Now things really were going to get serious.

END


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